Daily Times

A one-day National Seminar was arranged by Balochistan Think Tank Network (BTTN), titled “Obstacles in Socio-Economic and Political Development of Pakistan: Way Forward,” at IT university on Wednesday. During the seminar, the speakers from relevant fields across the country shed light on the current socio-economic and political development challenges and issues. Among the attendees, representatives from the Provincial government, IG Police, five Vice Chancellors of provincial universities and 90 students from three local universities, attended the event.

The seminar started with the national anthem, followed by the opening remarks of the Head of BTTN, Brig Agha Ahmad Gul (retd). He welcomed all the guests and students and extended his gratitude to the panel speakers and chairs. He discussed the historical development of the constitution of the country and added that the constitution provided a road map for countries.

He further commented on the current state of Pakistan’s economy and stated that there were five reasons for this situation: political instability, massive population growth, neo-colonial living, growing poverty due to inflation and unemployment, and huge corruption. He emphasized that these self-destructive approaches, if not addressed, would lead Pakistan to very serious security threats. The first session of the seminar was focused on Pakistan’s System of Governance: Evaluation and the Way Forward, chaired by Ambassador (R) Qazi Khalil Ullah.

In opening remarks, he said that Pakistan’s current political, economic, and financial predicament was a serious concern for everyone. He further stated that the political instability, despite 75 years of existence and the experimentation of different economic models by democratic governments and undemocratic regimes, had brought the country to the edge of a precipice.

While discussing the Constitution, Status of Social Contract, and Fault Lines: Way Forward, Owais Ahmad Ghani, Former Governor of Balochistan and KPK said that the power structure in any society and nation-state was always multipolar, and a carefully calibrated power equation was needed for political stability. Dr. Jahanzeb Baloch elaborated that colonialism was not only the control of a particular region and the exploitation of their resources but also the reshuffling of an entire mindset; thus, we needed to restructure our minds and curriculum to get rid of the colonial mentality.

The second session of the seminar was on Strategic Pressures of Budgeting, Major Powers, and Climate Change, chaired by Ambassador (R) Ali Sarwar Naqvi. In his opening address, he added that Pakistan, in its current state, was confronted with political turmoil and terrorism, which had prevented it from achieving socio-economic development. He further elaborated that these political obstacles remained unchecked, thus threatening the nation’s security at large. While discussing the macro-evaluation of the annual budget, Mehfooz Ali Khan stated that currently the state ran on borrowing, and when we borrowed, we had certain obligations.