Pakistan's National Artificial Intelligence Policy is laden with ambitious targets but the country demonstrably lacks the mechanisms, resources, and institutional capacity to deliver on them, according to a report by the European Times published on 16 September 2026. The findings cast a sharp light on the widening gap between South Asia's AI aspirations and ground-level readiness.

Key Gaps in Implementation

The government has publicly committed to training one million people and producing 10,000 AI trainers. Yet, more than a year after the National AI Policy was approved in July 2025, the government is yet to establish the AI Council — the apex oversight body designated to drive execution. Critics argue this structural absence renders the policy largely aspirational rather than actionable.

Beyond governance, the report highlighted a talent deficit. Pakistan reportedly lacks sufficient domestic expertise and has had to seek foreign specialists merely to begin implementation. Meanwhile, the country's public sector continues to run largely on paper, with fragmented records and inconsistent data formats, leaving AI projects without the clean, interoperable data that any deployment requires.

How Pakistan Compares to South Asian Peers

The report's comparison with neighbouring countries is particularly unflattering. '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 noted directly.

Even Bangladesh, which has not yet finalised its own AI policy, fares better than Pakistan in the assessment, according to the report. Bangladesh reportedly subjected its draft policy to a visible consultation and assessment process — a step Pakistan appears to have bypassed. Pakistani politicians and bureaucrats, the report observed, continue to claim progress on AI awareness and readiness, yet have no measurable achievements to show.

China's AI Footprint and Its Consequences

A separate dimension of concern surrounds China's deepening AI involvement in Pakistan. A report from June 2026 flagged that China's push to export AI architectures and 'Safe City' surveillance systems is reshaping the bilateral relationship — shifting it from physical connectivity to digital governance.

These networks, driven by Chinese AI-powered facial recognition, automated licence plate readers, and predictive policing algorithms, are publicly framed as modernisation tools to address urban crime and militant threats. However, critics argue the systems also provide an efficient mechanism for state control and, crucially, an invaluable stream of real-world operational data for China. According to the report, Pakistan's nascent IT and software export sector risks being a casualty of this arrangement, as dependence on Chinese digital infrastructure deepens.

What This Means for the Region

The findings underscore a broader pattern: national AI policies across developing economies often outpace institutional capacity, creating a credibility gap that donors, investors, and multilateral partners increasingly scrutinise. For Pakistan, the absence of an operational AI Council more than a year after policy adoption signals that the challenge is not merely technical — it is structural and political. Without a functioning governance framework, measurable targets, and clean data infrastructure, the ambitious milestones in the policy risk remaining on paper.