Islamabad: November 13, 2025: Experts, intellectuals and policy-makers from different fields of life have during the Margalla Dialogue here, organized by Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), address issues of regional integration, connectivity, the algorithmic warfare, Pakistan’s soft power, social cohesion and internal security dynamics.
Federal Minister for IT & Telecommunications Shaza Fatima Khawaja, as a keynote speaker, said that technology has brought about a revolution in the world, and Artificial Intelligence has attained an inevitable status.
"The nature of warfare is shifting toward computing power,
data, and algorithms, and Pakistan cannot stand behind in this race of
modernisation."
She recalled how Islamabad is coping with the emerging
realities of AI and its advancements, and informed that a roadmap is there to
enrich the country with new dynamics of inventions.
She said there are vast opportunities and Pakistan has all
the necessary ingredients in the form of technical experts, start-ups and a
profound backing from the government.
“We are promoting production in both software and hardware
sectors, and in the battle for truth, the situation has been handled
effectively,” Shaza remarked.
Director Research IPRI Brig (retd) Dr Raashid Wali Janjua
said that Artificial Intelligence is redefining warfare just as it is
redefining human existence. He said for the first time in human history,
nature, grammar and character are all changing together due to weaponization of
AI.
The lethal autonomous weapon systems and the unmanned
platforms like swarm drones are heading a new era where AI assisted armies
would be able to take faster and lethal decisions beating armies that do not
possess AI, he observed.
Dr Janjua said Gaza, Ukraine and Pakistan-India wars have
showcased the first baby steps of AI assisted weaponry.
“There is a need for a global consensus about amendments in
International Humanitarian Law to put legal guardrails over use of AI in a
fully autonomous role. There is also a need for erecting technical guardrails
like ‘Kill switches’ to keep the human control embedded in the AI enabled
weapons' architecture,” he noted.
Director Advocacy & Communications IPRI, Siddique
Humayun said that power has always moved with invention. “From the casting of
cannons in the Ottoman foundries to the circuitry of Silicon Valley, every age
has carried its own instrument of dominance. Artificial Intelligence is the
latest,” he observed.
He said that today AI is shaping how wars are fought, how
narratives are built, and how states are governed. “Algorithms now command the
flow of information, anticipate decisions, and define visibility. The
battlefield has expanded to data networks and perception management, where
influence and security are inseparable.”
Humayun said that AI is embedded in our financial markets,
it is integral to our social platforms, with the power to mobilize nations and
it has found itself in autonomous systems that now decide matters of life and
death.
Javed Jabbar, while talking on soft power and evolution of
nation, said that the hard component of gray power is something we possess but
do not deploy or use. One aspect of it, which should never be used, is our
nuclear capability. Yet, it undeniably constitutes an essential element of hard
power.
He said it is very easy to take a shot of a burning building
or where people are killing each other, but not where people are healing each
other and doing good things for each other.
Syed Mehar Ali Shah, Indus Water Commissioner of Pakistan,
told the Margalla Dialogue participants that “a nation born of rivers needs to
show to the world that we can live in peace and harmony through equitable and
responsible use of river waters both amongst ourselves and with the upper
riparian states”.
Former Core Commander, Lt Gen (retd) Aamer Riaz said that
“we need strong partnerships with forces of stability, and journey from aid to
equity, as well as effective employment of our gray power, i.e., combination of
soft and hard power.
Pakistan’s former Permanent Representative to Afghanistan,
Ambassador Asif Ali Durrani said that there are certain political positions
taken by states which are causing problems for us. He said Afghanistan in the
past 46 years is in a state of flux, and if you look at the geography, then it
becomes a stumbling block as far as smooth connectivity is concerned.
Former CJCSC Gen. Ehsanul Haq remarked, “…we know how to go
ahead in connectivity, but there are certain mindsets that hinder it.
Afghanistan is an issue but still we are handling it in the form of trade and
humanitarian assistance.”
He said that more than four years of dialogue with the
Taliban have proven futile forcing Pakistan to act against terrorist
sanctuaries. He added, regional initiatives like Moscow format, and Tashkent
dialogue should bear fruit in nudging the Taliban government towards peace.
Speakers noted that Afghanistan’s biggest dilemma is lack of
recognition from the world at large, still regional states are obliging the
war-torn country in the form of transit trade, commercial interaction and
refugees. They remarked that only a multilateral approach can help overcome
this phenomenon, and further trust and tranquility.
Kazakhstan Ambassador to Pakistan Yerzhan Kistafin said that
his country shares more than 7000 kms border with Russia, a distance equal to
one from London to New York, and is the largest landlocked country in the
region.
He called for a collective strategy to deal with issues such
as drug trafficking, terrorism and connectivity, apart from investment. He
pointed out that Pakistan and Kazakhstan possess a trade potential of more than
$14bn.
“We need multimedia corridors like the Middle Corridor and North South, and Pakistan should get connected with these, as especially promising is Balochistan-Afghanistan-Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan corridor. “
Idrees Zaman, a former Afghan diplomat, noted that peace
cannot come without a stable Afghanistan and for that regional coherence is
needed. He also believed that peace in Afghanistan cannot be outsourced, and
it’s time to move from uncertainty to predictability.
Former Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to
Pakistan, Masha Allah Shakeri, said the Silk Road was the first great
materialization of the philosophy of Hafiz Shirazi and Sheikh Saadi.
He noted that the Silk Road was more than a trade route,
describing it as an ancient prototype for connectivity. According to him, the
movement of goods along the route facilitated cultural and civilizational
dialogue, a legacy that continues to be celebrated today.
“Our modern and busy roads, energy corridors, and digital networks are not a break from history but a direct evolution of it. We are reigniting those ancient pathways, transforming them into a resilient organism of modern geopolitics, ensuring that the security and prosperity they enable are as enduring as the resilience that inspired them in the ancient world,” said Shakeri.
The Silk Road, once a vast network of trade routes, is being remembered not only for its economic significance but also for its role in fostering empathy driven connections across civilizations. Historians highlight that beyond the exchange of goods, the Silk Road served as the ancient world’s prototype for global connectivity where commerce enabled cultural dialogue and enduring ties between societies. Today, its legacy continues to symbolize safer, more resilient forms of human interaction and cooperation.
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