ISLAMABAD: Strategic Vision Institute (SVI) warned on Wednesday that the current poor governance was undermining the country’s ability to deal with the national security challenges. The observation was made by the think tank, which specialises in security and nuclear issues, at the conclusion of a three-day seminar on ‘National Security, Deterrence and Regional Stability in South Asia’, which was addressed by many leading military experts, academicians, diplomats and policy analysts. The seminar was divided into three parts, which covered National Security Imperatives of South Asia, Contemporary Nuclear Debate: Policy and Doctrinal Postures, and Deterrence Equilibrium and Strategic Stability in South Asia. “Pakistan is militarily well-equipped to maintain an adequate conventional and nuclear deterrence equilibrium vis-à-vis India. There are no major worries in the military or nuclear realm as far as Pakistan’s preparedness is concerned for dealing with threat emanating from India,” said President SVI, Dr Zafar Iqbal Cheema in his concluding remarks at the seminar. However, significant challenges to the national security, he noted, were stepping forth from the political and diplomatic fields. He said that there was a consensus among all that the country was suffering from poor governance. “This (poor governance) does not enable us to deal with non-military challenges to national security,” he added. According to the proceedings of the seminar, he believed that SVI calls for some urgent remedial measures. Emphasising on the urgency of the situation, the SVI chief said that India was expanding the spectrum conflict. Dr Zafar Nawaz Jaspal of Quaid-e-Azam University also expressed the concern with regard to Indian focus encircling Pakistan in his presentation. He said that Modi’s recent visits to Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan and his upcoming trips to Qatar and US clearly indicate the Indian government’s policy direction and its priorities. Another scholar, Dr Rizwana Abbasi, noted that Pakistan lacked the diplomatic expertise needed to break the encirclement that it was facing. She maintained that in addition to improving its diplomatic game, Pakistan should better its image and strengthen its economy to establish itself as an attractive front among the global players. In the earlier sessions, Secretary Defense Production, Lt Gen (retd) Syed Muhammad Owais had cautioned that with the space for conventional war reduced, India would now rely on “other means” to undermine and weaken Pakistan, which may include political, economic and diplomatic coercions, cultural dominance and an intensification of the subversive activities. Former Defense Secretary, Lt Gen (retd) Asif Yasin Malik also stressed on the need to address governance issues. “Biggest threat to Pakistan is the pathetic state of governance,” he said, while calling for a complete overhaul of the governance with a special emphasis on foreign and economic policies.