ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The International Seminar on “Global Strategic Threat and Response (GSTAR)” kicked off in Islamabad on Wednesday, wherein President Dr Arif Alvi said that Pakistan has always been a peacemonger; however India’s unabated belligerence pushes the entire region to a brink of war.
The two-day GSTAR Seminar is being organized by the Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS), an Islamabad-based independent think tank, with several foreign Air Force Chiefs, international & Pakistani strategists, government officials, diplomats, intellectuals, academicians, and defence experts as its participants.
The Seminar aims to create a comprehensive forum, seeking expert inputs & providing perspectives on core areas of research related to the changing balance of power, emerging technologies etc.
In his address at the Seminar, President Arif Alvi while talking about the priorities of States emphasised upon picking peace over war as Pakistan’s priority, and also recalled Prime Minister Imran Khan’s peace gesture when he ordered to return the captured Indian fighter pilot Abhinandan Varthaman a year ago.
President Dr Arif Alvi said that since Pakistan has suffered a lot and rendered enormous sacrifices in battling terrorism and extremism; therefore, it is well acquainted about the value of peace. However, he added that though Pakistan has turned out to be a great exponent of peace but neighbouring India yet remains oblivious of its significance and seems adamant in posing serious threats to the entire region with its warmongering and Hindutva policies.
The president also highlighted the risks of hypersonic weapons and the probability of accidental/unintended wars due to miscalculation. He was of the view that the history of wars suggests that wars have always been fought for the exploitation of resources.
پاکستان امن کا داعی ہے ۔اور ہمیں امن کی قدرہے ۔۔۔جنگوں سے امن کا حصول ممکن نہیں ہوتا۔۔۔ کرہ ارض کے وسائل محدودہیں،انہیں لوٹنے کے بجائے محفوظ کرنے پرتوجہ دینی چاہیئے ۔۔۔ صدرمملکت کا عالمی سٹریٹجک خطرات اورردعمل سے متعلق بین الاقوامی کانفرنس سے خطاب۔@ArifAlvi pic.twitter.com/w8FajqCCoP
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) March 4, 2020
Explaining the multitude of risks facing the World today, the president said that Multinational Companies have the ability, power, and strength to affect Countries today.
Dr Arif Alvi maintained that unfortunately as a whole the World has plunged itself into an arms race and is incurring billions of dollars to develop military equipments at the expense of humanity as it endangers their survival. He said that sanity must prevail and it requires collective wisdom and efforts to build a peace-oriented culture worldwide.
Glimpses from Pakistan’s first-ever international conference on #GSTAR
Renowned international/national speakers from across the globe/country, expert strategists international media & think tanks are here in Pakistan & have joined as participants & speakers at #GSTAR conference. pic.twitter.com/sNQKlFfLSR
— CASS.thinkers (@CassThinkers) March 4, 2020
