On 25th September, 2019 Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan (Sinologist, ex-Diplomat) wrote an article, China-India: A comparison the article he proclaimed, the Western world is supporting India to counter China as a competitor. Similarly, in the perspective of US universities, he stated, US universities attracts Indian talent for their own benefits, expressly, in the technology transfer and defense segment to develop quality human resource. Moreover asserted, “All defense capabilities acquired by India are aimed anti-Pakistan”.
My pivotal argument to write this article is not to discourse the Western world but, intellectuals from Pakistan and to analyze the pinch-point of stated article e.g.“People of China are enjoying prosperity, and can be witnessed by their luxurious life style, purchasing power, food style, tourism and lavish entertainment industry. India has no capacity or potential to compete China”. My interrogation is, do Pakistan has potential to compete China, or even, India in the field of Science and Technology (S&T)?
In recent years, China has emerged as a new science and technology (S&T) powerhouse. A key indicator of the rise of China in science and technology (S&T) is its spending on research and development (R&D). Chinese R&D investment has grown remarkable over the past two decades. China is now the second-largest performer in terms of R&D spending, and accounts for approximately 20 percent of total world R&D expenditure. China’s rise in S&T is not an accident. Successive Chinese leaderships have seen S&T as essential to socioeconomic growth and have accordingly taken steps to develop the country’s S&T-related infrastructure. S&T enlargement and innovation figure outstandingly in the current thirteenth five-year plan (2016-20). China’s National Medium-and Long-Term Program for Science and Technology Development, is a striving plan to transform the Chinese economy into a major center of innovation by the year 2020 and make it the global leader in S&T and innovation by 2050.
As a matter of fact, scientific knowledge and its use in innovation, technology and socioeconomic development have become increasingly global. Quantum computing and communication, artificial intelligence, robotics, big-data mining, the search for dark matter, genetic and biomedical engineering, brain science – and the list of potentially escalating research goes on. Each has momentous implications for future industries, defense technologies, societal and economic development of any state for the sovereignty, prosperity and luxurious life style of its citizens. And, surprisingly, the remarkable achievements in these fields are coming not from the great centers of science in the West, but Beijing, Shanghai, Hefei, Shenzhen, Wuhan and a number of other Chinese cities.
Accordingly, S&T played a vital role in the rapid socioeconomic development of China. This is the reason citizens of China are enjoying prosperity and living luxurious life. The Chinese development mold has proved successful in past few years, Pakistan shouldn’t seriously learn from it? Pakistan is still passing through its worst economic crisis, governance crisis, health crisis, and unemployment etc., primarily caused by corruption, nepotism and weak institutions. By keeping eye on new geopolitical scenarios, Pakistan need not to devise a new National Action Plan for Science, Technology &Innovation (ST&I)? It may be anticipated, Pakistan will take off economically if science and technology (S&T), research and development (R&D) will be focal-point of the engine of development. There is no short cut on the path of productive, sustainable and socioeconomic development. China has proved it through its hard-earned position. The road for Pakistan will not be dissimilar. In order to develop a strong economy and socioeconomic development, Pakistan need to follow China’s example and make ST&I and R&D the focal point for socioeconomic development of citizens.
Honestly speaking, slogans “All-Weather, Time-Tested, All-Dimension, Sweeter Than Honey, and Higher Than The Height Of Himalayas and Deeper Than The Depths Of Arabian Sea” about friendship with China are very popular in Pakistan and Pakistani politics, but politicians, executives, policymakers, economists, educationalists have never made an effort to truthfully learn lessons from the world’s second largest economy and science, technology and innovation (ST&I) raising power. Thus, knowing the ground realities, as a litmus-test, I appeal not to Western world but my own people to bring “National University of Science and Technology (NUST)”, the prestigious university located in the heart of capital city of Pakistan, in the top 100 ranking universities of world or at-least top 5 Indian universities in QS World University Ranking.
