BEIJING: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has said that China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) offers Pakistan vital tools to strengthen disaster management, improve logistics, and support sustainable development.
Delivering the keynote address as chief guest at the 4th International Summit on BeiDou Applications in Zhuzhou, the minister noted that early warning and rescue enabled by the system could save lives in flood-prone communities. This year’s monsoon floods killed more than 1,000 people, injured as many, displaced three million, and damaged over 12,000 homes, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
Iqbal stressed that positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services were now an “invisible infrastructure” underpinning modern economies. “For a country like Pakistan, which is among the ten most climate-vulnerable, these services are indispensable. Without PNT, the modern economy stops,” he said.
He reminded delegates that Pakistan was the first foreign country to adopt BeiDou, describing it as a testament to the trust and depth of the Pakistan–China partnership. Pakistan has also achieved initial operational capability of its own systems — Pak-SBAS and Pak-GPASS — which, when integrated with BeiDou, provide resilience and precision in navigation services.
Highlighting its role in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Iqbal said satellite-based navigation improves logistics, cuts costs, and enhances port operations at Gwadar and Karachi, effectively transforming CPEC into “a digital corridor powered by space technology.”
The minister outlined how BeiDou applications are already touching lives: enabling precision farming, telemedicine in remote areas, efficient emergency transport, and smarter urban traffic management. “Every BeiDou signal enhanced by Pakistan’s systems is not just data — it is food on the table, a faster ambulance, and safer roads,” he remarked.
He proposed expanding BeiDou integration nationwide, strengthening Pakistan’s National Center for GIS and Satellite Technology as a regional centre of excellence, and promoting joint research, training, and development with Chinese experts.
“BeiDou is not just technology; it is empowerment and hope,” Iqbal concluded, calling the partnership a reflection of CPEC and the Belt and Road Initiative. “Every signal received in Pakistan is not only a signal from space — it is a signal of prosperity and shared progress.”
