Report flags Pakistan AI policy gaps, lags India and South Asia

Pakistan lacks resources, mechanisms to achieve its ambitious AI plans: Report

New Delhi, Sep 16

The report from European Times said the Pakistan government has promised to train one million people and produce 10,000 trainers, but after approval of National AI Policy in July 2025, the government is yet to establish the AI Council, the apex body meant to oversee execution.

The report argued that Pakistan lacked domestic expertise and began seeking foreign specialists to implement the plan.

Further, Pakistan's public sector still runs largely on paper with fragmented records and inconsistent formats, leaving AI projects without clean, interoperable data.

"Pakistan lags behind its South Asia peers, not just India but Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India has actually integrated AI into the actual governance system, and its AI ecosystem has transcended beyond mere implementation," the report said.

Bangladesh is in the process of finalising its AI policy, and yet is still in a better position than Pakistan because the former subjected its draft policy to a visible consultation and assessment process.

Pakistani politicians and bureaucrats continue to claim that they are working on AI awareness and readiness as they lack any measurable achievements.

A report in June said that China's push to export AI architectures and "Safe City" surveillance systems to Pakistan is reshaping the partnership from physical connectivity to digital governance.

Driven by Chinese AI-powered facial recognition, automated license plate readers and predictive policing algorithms, the networks are publicly framed as modernisation efforts to tackle urban crime and persistent militant threats.

However, the system provides an efficient mechanism for state control. Further, it is an invaluable source of real-world operational data for China. The report argued that Pakistan's nascent IT and software export sector will also be a causality of this co-operation.

— IANS