ISLAMABAD: Pakistan needs to adopt digital diplomacy as a strategic tool to counter hybrid warfare, cyber security threats and deep fake news that are common at digital spaces.

The Centre of Pakistan and International Relations (CPIR) organised a policy dialogue on Saturday to suggest that Pakistan needs to give priority to digital spaces and utilise it as a soft power.

Speakers at the gathering said digital diplomacy had been adopted by many governments, including Canada, US and the Scandinavian countries.

Leading think-tanks, universities and policy analysts called for designing and implementing a policy for digital diplomacy which will be forwarded to the Strategic Communication Wing of the Foreign Office (FO).

Say university students should be encouraged to get training to promote positive image of Pakistan in digital spaces

FO Director General Saima Syed spoke on various initiatives taken by the office in digital connectivity and said communicating the government’s stance was the most effective way to build a positive narrative for Pakistan.

CPIR President Amna Malik briefed the participants about the importance of online training on digital diplomacy and the usage of various apps and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and data analytics that were useful for digital diplomacy.

The experts said the concept of digital diplomacy was an old practice which started from the era of telegram and reached the age of internet and webpage and has now moved to the new modes of communication.

Chairman Board of Advisers Ambassador Khalid Mahmud emphasised the importance of digital diplomacy to further improve foreign relations to create positive image of Pakistan and said that there should be a combination of traditional and digital diplomatic practices.

He suggested that there should be certified training on digital diplomacy and publications of books so that our career diplomats and missions could be prepared for new challenges of these niche technologies.

Retired Brig Amir Yaqub from Nust, ambassador Fauzia from NDU and Prof Riaz Shad from Numl also spoke and suggested that there was a need to encourage university students by giving them incentives to get professional training to promote positive image of Pakistan at digital spaces.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2022