A two-day international conference was organized by the Institute of Research and Analysis (LIRA) at the University of Lahore on the topic of issues being faced in 21st century and the future of South Asia, former senator and federal minister Javed Jabbar participated as chief guest. The conference was attended by Dean of Student Affairs, Amara Owais, Director of LIRA Syed Raghib Ali, Dr. Ong Yiu Chuan, Dr. Amjad Awan, Dr. Dessie William (Australia), Professor Farid Subhani (Bangladesh), Professor Dr. Abida Ashraf, Dr. Aun Abbas, Dr. Khurram Joyah (Saudi Arabia), Dr. Muhammad Saddad, Tauseef A. Mushtaq, Professor Naveed Ashraf, Professor Dr. Saman Shahid, Asadullah, Dr. Maria Hussain, and a large number of faculty members and students.
Addressing the conference, the chief guest, former senator and federal minister Javed Jabbar, said that at present we are facing five major challenges, the biggest of which is the growing population. At present, the population has reached 240 million, which will increase to 320 million in the next 30 years.
At present, the number of out-of-school children is 25 million, which will increase to 35 million. The second major challenge is the unbalanced situation in the region. Everyone is aware of the situations in Kashmir and Bangladesh. The third challenge is the lack of political dialogue in South Asia, which needs urgent attention. Development in South Asia is not possible without promoting political dialogue. The fourth challenge in South Asia is the slow pace of development, which all countries will have to work together to increase. Fifth is the division of the region. Whoever lives in the region, keeping in mind their own circumstances, should learn from their shortcomings and move forward. At present, the whole world is benefiting from artificial intelligence, so Pakistan and other South Asian countries should produce experts in artificial intelligence, as the coming era is of digital.
Addressing the conference, national and international speakers discussed the problems of South Asia and suggested solutions and informed the students about scientific methods that how we can take advantage of IT in the digital age and put our countries on the path of development.
Delegations from Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Canada and Uganda participated in the international conference. At the end of the conference, Dean of Student Affairs Amara Owais and Director LIRA Syed Raghib Ali presented a shield to the special guest, former federal minister Javed Jabbar. Later shields were also presented to the local and foreign speakers.
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