ISLAMABAD, Oct 14: Acting President Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmed has stressed the need for finding ways and means to strengthen the economic base of the Muslim world through scientific and technological self-reliance.

Inaugurating the 12th Conference of Islamic Academy of Sciences (IAS) here on Monday, the President said attainment of scientific knowledge was imperative to become self-reliant.

“We have to overcome poverty and problems of cultural identity. Scientific and technological uplift of the Muslim world holds the key in this regard.”

Eminent scholars and scientists belonging to the Muslim countries attended the weeklong moot to evolve a common strategy for expanding the scientific and technological base of the Islamic countries to keep up with the emerging globalization.

Minister for Science and Technology Prof Ataur Rehman and President IAS, Dr Abdel Salam Majali FIAS, also spoke on the occasion.

The conference on the theme of “Materials Science and Technology” and “Culture of Science,” is being jointly organized by IAS and Pakistan Academy of Sciences.

The acting President referred to the events of the last year and said they had resulted in a radically changed global scenario and bred negative attitudes towards the Islamic world.

“This makes it all the more essential that we move ahead in our resolve to match adversities by accomplishments in the field of science with a renewed sense of urgency,” he added.

Muslim nations, he said, faced unprecedented complexities of governance and economic turmoil.

In wake of the current international socio-political environment, he said, floodgates of reactions had opened, implicitly if not overtly, with dire consequences for the Islamic world.

He described these reactions as both unjust and misguided which were creating conflict of civilization.

The acting President said Islam was not a religion of conflict but a religion of peace, brought for the welfare of the human being.

“It is this very image of Islam that must emerge from our action and must be shared with world communities,” he added.

He said pursuit of knowledge in general and scientific knowledge in particular was both a duty and an obligation with the Ummat.

He urged the OIC countries to make sincere efforts in this respect.

He also noted some serious ethical, moral and legal accomplishment of scientific and technological progress and their impact on social development and the moral fabric. In this respect, he referred to the ongoing debate on cloning, stem cell research etc.

“Scientific growth must occur hand in hand with moral growth squarely in the light of Islamic teachings as well as in consonance with the needs of the society and the market,” he emphasized.

The Muslim world, he said, was gifted with natural resources and called for mobilizing both political will and efforts to exploit these resources in achieving excellence in all fields.

Pakistan, he said, in recent years has taken a number of bold initiatives to strengthen the education system and scientific and technological activities in the country. He also appreciated the role of the PAS and the COMSTECH in this respect.—APP