Press Release 15/07/2021
Event Organized by Islamabad Policy Research Institute
International Seminar/Webinar: “The Role of Armed Forces in National Development
and its impact on Civil-Military Relations”
The Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) organised a seminar/webinar on the theme of “The Role of Armed Forces in National Development and its impact on Civil-Military Relations.”
Among the participants included Lt. Gen. (Retd) Agus Widjojo, Governor, Lemhannas R.I., Indonesia; Maj. Gen. (Retd) Prof. Dr. Gűray Alpar, Associate Professor, Institute of Strategic Thinking, Turkey, and Mr. Kirill Shamiev, Ph.D. Candidate, Central European University, Austria. They highlighted how the militaries in their respective societies had contributed towards national development and how that impacted on civil-military relations.
The Indonesian speaker Lt. Gen. (Retd) Agus Widjojo highlighted the role of Indonesian military in nation-building and its conscious pulling back from dual function role of national defence and political stabilisation.
The Turkish speaker Maj. Gen. (Retd) Prof. Dr. Gűray Alpar pointed out that the country’s transition to democracy with military in support role as per constitution. He alluded to military’s contributions in defence equipment manufacture and exports, apart from participation in humanitarian relief operations and provision of healthcare and education to populations in far-flung areas.
The Russian scholar Kirill Shamiev spoke on the important role of Russian armed forces in defence industrial development, management of emergencies and natural disasters.
Brig. (Retd) Raashid Wali Janjua, Acting President and Director Research Islamabad Policy Research Institute, Islamabad, and Dr Moonis Ahmar, Meritorious Professor, University of Karachi, were the key speakers, who spoke on two sub-themes relevant to the topic.
Brig Raashid highlighted the effective role played by the armed forces in all walks of life, through case studies of disaster management and building of the Karakorum Highway, linking Pakistan to China.
Dr Ahmar pointed out as to why the army is always looked up to whenever the countrymen face problems, and added that military had gained the edge owing to its superior training and organisation vis-à-vis other government organisations that needed to be strengthened to improve their response capacities.
