Islamabad, Pakistan (Commonwealth Union)_ According to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan hopes for a substantive discussion with India for regional peace and development, but that it is India’s responsibility to play a part in achieving enduring peace in Asia and to be sincere in its pursuit of a substantive dialogue. He stated that Pakistan desires a peaceful environment for future generations. The prime minister attended and delivered his speech at the sixth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia on Thursday in Astana, Kazakhstan.
PM Shahbaz said: “I am absolutely ready and willing to have a serious dialogue and discussion with our counterparts, Indians, provided that they show sincerity of purpose and they show that they are ready to discuss issues that have really kept us at a distance over decades”. According to him, there would be no peace in occupied Kashmir until Indian atrocities cease. He stated that using military force to claim democracy in occupied Kashmir, India has denied the people of the occupied valley the right to self-determination, adding that India has oppressed the community for seventy years.
In addition, referring to the current floods in Pakistan, the Prime Minister emphasized the need for instant assistance to rehabilitate the nation’s 33 million climate refugees, who have been displaced by the recent torrential rains and flooding. He stated that Pakistan is experiencing a colossal climate induced climate and that heavy rains and flooding have flooded one-third of Pakistan, which is the result of global warming and climate change.
According to initial estimates, the disaster has resulted in a loss of approximately thirty billion dollars. The Prime Minister stated that the government has mobilized all available resources for rescue, relief, and rehabilitation initiatives. According to him, even though Pakistan is responsible for less than one percent of global carbon emissions, the country is one among the ten countries most badly hit by climate change.
