Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addressed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) Council of Heads of State (CHS) meeting in Samarkand and urged leaders to ‘build a wall’ against climate change.
While speaking at the SCO summit on Friday, PM Shehbaz talked about the devastation of floods in Pakistan, “I have never seen this kind of devastation before.”
He said millions of people have been displaced, and millions of houses have been partially or completely damaged.
Many people are living under the sky and stagnant water is causing a rise in waterborne diseases, such as malaria, diarrhea, and all kinds of diseases, with an economic loss of billions of dollars.
He urged the SCO to “build a wall” against the threat of climate change, saying, “We are going to stand on our own feet, but the point is, will this be the last time a country is going to fall victim to this devastation?”
But he added that only a well-thought-out and long-lasting plan could make it happen. “Our carbon emissions are less than 1%. But this was what nature and fate had in store for us,” he added.
He reiterated Pakistan’s “strong and unwavering commitment” to furthering the SCO’s goals as he wrapped up his speech.
The prime minister also put emphasis on the Afghanistan issue and said that peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan was linked.
The PM stated that “peace in Afghanistan means peace in Pakistan, in other words, what’s good for Afghanistan is good for Pakistan”.
He continued by saying that cooperation from all countries would be required to assist all positive initiatives in Afghanistan.
We need to support good initiatives in Afghanistan such as education, health, jobs, industry, agriculture, and other fields.
Prime Minister Shehbaz appealed to the international community to aid Afghan economic development and unfreeze the financial assets of Afghanistan.
He said it is Pakistan’s considered opinion that strengthening Afghanistan in the security and counterterrorism domain should run parallel to the SCO’s support to the Afghan people in social and economic arenas.
PM Shehbaz said the international community must support efforts to build a sustainable Afghan economy. “Unfreezing Afghanistan’s financial assets remain a crucial need in this regard,” he said.
For their part, Afghan authorities would do well to build a future based on inclusiveness and respect for human rights for all citizens and all categories of society, especially women and minorities, including steps against terrorism.
PM said that Pakistan has made huge sacrifices to defeat the monster of terrorism.
He urged the international community to join hands to fight against the menace of extremism and terrorism to wipe it out from the face of the earth.
