Shehbaz Sharif calls for sustainable peace with India, lasting solution of Kashmir

NEW YORK: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed the country’s wish to attain peace with India however did not fall short of raising the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly.
“We look for peace with all our neighbours, including India, sustainable peace and stability in South Asia, however, remains contingent upon a just and lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.” India has stood firm on its long-standing position on Kashmir that the entire Union territory is an integral part of India.
“India must take credible steps to create enabling environment for constructive engagement. We are neighbours and we are there forever, the choice is ours whether we live in peace or keep on fighting with each other,” Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif said at UNGA.
“We have had 3 wars from 1947 onwards and as a consequence, only misery, poverty and unemployment increased on both sides. It is now up to us to resolve our differences, our problems, and our issues through peaceful negotiations and discussions,” he added.
He made these remarks while addressing the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York, United States.
Shehbaz Sharif also spoke at length about the condition of Pakistan amid the devastating floods that hit the country. “Over 1500 of my people, including over 400 children, have gone from this world in this great flood. Far more are in peril from disease and malnutrition. As we speak, millions of climate migrants are still looking for dry land to pitch their tents on.”
The prime minister said he was at the UNGA “to tell Pakistan’s story to the world.” “A story of deep anguish and pain arising out of a massive human tragedy caused by floods,” Sharif said and added that Pakistan’s case on the issues “call for the world’s immediate attention.”
The unprecedented floods in Pakistan are estimated to have caused losses worth USD 18 billion and aggravated macroeconomic fundamentals despite a resumption of the IMF deal.
Close to eight million people have been displaced by the disaster and the UN along with the authorities and partners have continued to race to reach affected populations with desperately needed relief items.
UNHCR, noted that 7.6 million people in Pakistan have been displaced by the floods, with nearly 600,000 living in relief sites.

Meeting with Joe Biden

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had a brief “interaction” with US President Joe Biden at a reception the US leader hosted on Wednesday evening for the world leaders gathered in New York for the 77th session of UN General Assembly, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar said.

Responding to reporters’ questions at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday, Hina Khar described the conversation as “constructive and forward-looking.”

The Pakistan-US relationship, the state minister added, was starting at a “solid footing and we don’t want to rush it.”

The minister said there was lot of sympathy and goodwill among world leaders for the flood-devastated Pakistan and now that must be converted into something concrete for the country to recover from the disaster, and build back better. “We have fully briefed the international community about the extent of damage wrought by the climate-induced floods”, she added.

Earlier, Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday expressed his gratitude to US President Joe Biden for highlighting the need for urgent action in the wake of massive floods in Pakistan. “Thank you President Joe Biden for highlighting the plight of the flood victims in Pakistan and urging the world for an immediate response, as my country is facing the ravages of unprecedented floods,” he posted on his Twitter handle.

The prime minister stressed that the calls of stranded women and children for help need to be heeded to at international level.

In another tweet, he said, on the second day of UN General Assembly, his discussions with top officials of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank focused on making resources available within the country’s existing programmes for post-flood reconstruction. “In my other meetings with world leaders, we discussed floods, climate change and rehabilitation of flood victims,” he said.