Pakistan's AI policy enters a world where technology choices increasingly reflect geopolitical alignments. Recently, Pakistan unveiled its AI policy, a step in a broader transformation agenda first outlined in the Digital Pakistan Policy (2018). This particular policy builds directly on those guidelines, but more so shifting from a broad digital enablement to targeted leadership in the tech domain. What sets this policy apart is the six pillars that are interconnected and designed to "drive inclusive growth for national prosperity while preserving human rights and the rule of law". The six pillars are: (i) AI Innovation Ecosystem; (ii) Awareness and Readiness; (iii) Secure AI Ecosystem; (iv) Transformation and Evolution; (v) AI Infrastructure; and (vi) International Partnerships and Collaborations.

While all pillars address domestic issues, the last pillar addresses an important dimension that may be an outcome of geopolitical realities. Technology politics is a reality now; it has become the central point of the US-China great-power competition, resulting in a fragmented landscape with incompatible technical standards, politicised supply chains and growing pressure on middle and smaller states to choose a side. For Pakistan, technology can be both a benefactor and a challenge when viewed through this lens, and that is where the last pillar becomes essential. It explicitly states that "AI is now a determinant of national power and a domain of geopolitical competition" and that Pakistan must "position itself to benefit from multiple ecosystems without becoming dependent on a single supplier or bloc".

Pakistan's national AI policy's sixth pillar allows it to sign bilateral and multilateral agreements with leading........

© The Express Tribune