STAFF REPORT ISB: COMSATS has urged the government and other relevant national institutions to take necessary measures in support of Science Diplomacy as it would pave the way for achieving the set goals in the field of science and technology.
This was the crux of a lecture delivered by Executive Director COMSATS, Dr. Imtinan Elahi Qureshi, under the COMSATS Science Diplomacy Programme launched last year in Islamabad.
The lecture was delivered in a select gathering of scholars and academicians at the Faculty Development Academy of COMSATS CIIT, Islamabad.
The lecture titled Science Diplomacy: An Overview outlined how science and diplomacy come together in various forms serving related but different purposes.
The executive director noted that Pakistan is signatory to several international agreements, which necessitates scientists-diplomats interactivity, constituting one facet of Science Diplomacy.
Dr. Qureshi quoted the successful Science Diplomacy ventures, such as CERN, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), and International Space Station (ISS). He also lauded the science diplomacy efforts of specific nature made by Cuba (Medicine), and Brazil (Agriculture), as well as other multi-national initiatives and institutional mechanisms applied in Africa (NM-AIST), Asia (ECO), and the Middle East (ESCWA).
The concluding questions and answers session had participation from individuals belonging to various fields of specialization and backgrounds, including, mathematics, biosciences, physics, chemistry, management sciences, environment, and public policy.