Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry (Former Foreign Secretary): It is a very positive statement of Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan that Pakistan is working to revive a Knowledge Corridor with the US is a positive development. Although there are ups and downs in Pak-US bilateral relations, but education remained one of the areas that never been affected. Hundreds of Pakistani students are already benefiting from the universities of the United States. The door of learning should never be closed. The transfer of technology is always a tricky thing and the developed countries are often reluctant to transfer technologies to citizens of other countries. It is a fact that people of East-Asia have learnt the art of re-engineering. At the moment the Chinese companies are competing with the most popular technology companies of the European countries. The efforts of Salman Sufi for resumption of PIA direct flights from Pakistan to the United States are very encouraging. The government should address the security concern of US officials in this regard and invite their security teams to visit our airports. 

Najam-ud-Din Sheikh (Former Ambassador): The secret behind the economic development of a country is the quality education. Thousands of Pakistani students have been studying in different universities in the United States. The current efforts of Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States about revival a Knowledge Corridor with the US is a positive development. It is very important that we should get benefit from level of research facilities in US educational institutions. The students studying in US after completion of their degrees must come back to Pakistan and teach the Pakistani students in local universities and transfer their knowledge and expertise. It will be a positive development if the United States supports Pakistan in resumption of PIA flights.

Ahmed Kamal (Chairman Federal Flood Commission) If we analyze the situation in KPK and Balochistan, the current monsoon season is completely unprecedented. This time we have been observing an overall tendency for above-normal rains over the country. The need of the time to take all precautionary measures and utilize all available resources to mitigate the impacts of heavy rains and flooding. The National Disaster Management Authority should be institutionalized. The objective of NDMA is to ensure a holistic, proactive, technology driven and sustainable strategy which would involve all stakeholders in order to overcome any disaster. The heavy rains continued to wreak havoc in several areas of Sindh, KPK and Balochistan. 

Dr  Ejaz Ahmed (Environmentalist)  The current flood-like situation in Pakistan is unprecedented and the main reason for this weather is climate change. Unfortunately, heavy monsoon rains have caused significant loss of life and property across the provinces. The situation demands that the government formulate an integrated strategy for mitigating and managing disasters like floods instead of confining its response to just providing relief to the affected people. The long-term strategy should focus on strengthening the flood forecast system based on the extensive use of technology so that NDMA can provide timely relief to those affected and rehabilitate them as quickly as possible.