Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Planning Development and Reform addressed problems in U.S.-Pakistan relations and outlined the current Pakistani government’s vision for the future during a talk Wednesday.
Ahsan Iqbal is a member of the National Assembly party and served as the Federal Minister of Education until 2008. He authored Pakistan Vision 2010—a framework for Pakistan’s future—in 1998 and is currently giving a series of talks in the United States outlining Pakistan’s goals for the year 2025.
The Duke Pakistani Students Association hosted the event. Approximately 60 people were in attendance, including a number of Duke students from Pakistan or of Pakistani decent.
In his speech, Iqbal tackled common American misperceptions of his country and attributed them largely to the media.
He noted that most Americans obtained their information about Pakistan through news outlets, which focus coverage of Pakistan on terrorism and political conflict.
“Pakistan is not seen through the lens of Pakistan,” he said. “Pakistan is seen through the prism of CNN.”
He proceeded to put the conflict in Pakistan into historical context, attributing a portion of the current problems to the aftermath of foreign intervention in Afghanistan in the 1970s. Iqbal said Pakistan currently hosts more than 3.5 million refugees, many of them from Afghanistan.
He clarified his position with an analogy.
"When I call a plumber, he spends half his time fixing the thing and the other half of the time cleaning the thing, so that when he leaves, there is no sign of there having been a problem," he said. "This has not been the case with Afghanistan.”
He emphasized that Pakistan has been more than “bombings and terrorist activity” over the past decade.
“We get negative coverage, in terms of economics, in the media, in our image,” he said. “But in the last 10 years, what has happened in Pakistan, the factors upon which the health of the state depend, are moving in the positive direction.”
Pakistan’s development, Iqbal argued, has followed a positive trend over the past few decades. He cited the increased democratization of the country as evidence.
“The citizens are growing very engaged, very powerful,” he said. “One of the key factors of a successful country is high citizen engagement. We are promising to build a new country, because we believe people did not vote for us because they like our [party] name. People liked our programs.”
Iqbal presented Pakistan Vision 2025—a compilation of goals for the country's growth and development by the year 2025. Key features included promoting the sciences and technology, developing human and social capital through support of education and fostering greater acceptance of diversity.
He emphasized the importance of the roles the private sector and individuals would play in the future of Pakistan.
“Today, governments have lost their capacity,” he said. “Governments have lost their steam. The change has to come from the private sector, the academia, the civil society.”
After Iqbal spoke, the floor opened to questions. One member of the audience voiced concerns about the Pakistani government's inclination to negotiate with terrorist groups.
Iqbal responded by describing the struggle to end terrorism as a sequence. Terrorists must be brought to the negotiation table first, he explained, so that when peace talks fail, Pakistan can garner wider support from foreign countries in dealing with terrorist groups.
Another audience member inquired about what was being done in Pakistan about corruption.
Every developing country deals with corruption, Iqbal noted, citing China, India, Malaysia, and Bangladesh as examples. The only permanent solution to corruption was to strengthen the country’s institutions and promote greater political stability.
Iqbal ended his talk on a positive note, stressing the importance of Pakistani and American students in bridging the gap between the two countries.
“I hope that we can create linkage between Duke University and other universities in Pakistan,” he said. “So that students in this part of the world and in Pakistan can discover opportunities on the other side of the world. I hope that through partnership with our friends, we can heal the wounds of this war on terror.”
Audience reactions were mixed.
“I thought he did a good job of making it clear that ending terrorism is a sequence,” said Ahsaan Rizvi, a master's student in engineering management. “There’s a debate over what is to be done. People don’t want drone strikes, but they also don’t want terrorists. So what is the government’s real position?”
Umar Nadeem, a master's student in engineering management and a native of Pakistan, voiced disappointment over the unspecific nature of the talk.
"He didn’t really go into the actions and steps, it was more just inspiration,” Nadeem said. "It will take much longer than 10 years. Maybe double that, or more.”
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