Indian attitude a threat to world peace: Nawaz

NEW YORK: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday formally raised India’s serious ceasefire violations at the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and reminded the world body of its historic responsibility for conducting a plebiscite in the Indian-held Kashmir.
The prime minister said the Indian attitude was a threat for world peace.
Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant to the PM (SAPM) Syed Tariq Fatemi, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Dr Maleeha Lodhi and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry were also present on the occasion.
Official sources told The News after the meeting that Nawaz Sharif briefed the UN chief on threats to regional and international peace emanating from India’s aggressive posture and defiance of the 2003 ceasefire agreement.
He recalled that Pakistan had throughout been keen to maintain peace with all its neighbours.
The meeting was planned for 15 minutes but continued for more than 25 minutes.
Ban Ki-moon lauded Pakistan’s peacekeeping role in various parts of the world and paid rich tributes to its peace keepers.
The UN top official expressed concern over the tensions between Pakistan and India and offered his good offices for addressing the issue. He highlighted the need for initiation of dialogue between Pakistan and India at the earliest.
Ban commended the prime minister for designating a female ambassador and said she was one of most active permanent representatives posted to the UN headquarters.
The sources said the prime minister also discussed the Afghan situation with the UN chief and assured him that Pakistan was prepared to support a negotiated settlement of the Afghan imbroglio.
He briefed the secretary general on his government’s domestic priorities and Pakistan’s fight against terrorism with special reference to the ongoing military Operation Zarb-e-Azb.
Nawaz told him that the operation was proving resulted-oriented and had overcome terror to a great extent. He said Pakistan wanted a new relationship with Afghanistan and was ready to assist the Afghan reconciliation.
The prime minister recalled Ban Ki-moon’s visit to Pakistan and said he cherished the memories of his visit.
The UN chief also referred to that and thanked Nawaz for the warm hospitality that he was accorded during the visit.
Meanwhile, the prime minister said that more girls are pursuing higher education and professional careers today than ever before in Pakistan. The prime minister who spoke at two world summits on the brink of the ongoing UN General Assembly session announced Pakistan’s commitment for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Addressing the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, he said that women are being employed in public and private sectors in increasing numbers. “At the tertiary level, girls have consistently achieved higher levels of performance as compared to boys. But a lot more needs to be done. We are working towards creating an enabling environment that will provide our women and girls even greater access to education, economic resources, skills development and employment opportunities. We will build and strengthen institutions that are more responsive to women’s needs, help remove remaining obstacles to their empowerment, and provide them a world free of violence,” the premier said.
“This requires an attitudinal shift and a long-term commitment to making women equal partners in national and global progress and prosperity. We will provide the leadership to realise this vision on which hinges the future of our nation,” he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired and hosted the summit. Nawaz Sharif said the establishment of national and provincial commissions on the status of women led by women are independent and contributing to formulation of legislation and policies for women empowerment and gender equality.
He said the government was strengthening and improving the implementation of the National Policy for Development and Empowerment of Women, enacting and implementing pro-women legislation, including the Criminal Law Amendment Act, declaring honour killings a crime, Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act, Women in Distress and Detention Fund Act and so on.
He said the government had included women empowerment in the First Pillar of its key planning document, “Vision 2025”, to inculcate leadership among women at the grassroot level. “For Pakistan, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) complement our own development needs and priorities, as articulated in our ‘Vision 2025’. This document provides a policy framework for the integration of the new goals in our national economic and development planning. It is also a blueprint of our political commitment to the process,” he added.
Nawaz said the government has initiated a series of wide-ranging reforms, inter-alia, aimed at expanding the resource-base, stemming illicit capital outflows and ensuring optimised use of existing resources. “We are equally aware of the importance of a robust monitoring and follow-up mechanism for effective and full implementation of the SDGs in Pakistan. Elaborate coordination and oversight procedures have accordingly been put in place, at both the national and the provincial levels,” he said.
Nawaz said the government also has a historic opportunity to reverse the threatening tide of climate change. “We must, therefore, negotiate an outcome in Paris that is fair, equitable and guided by the principles of the UN Climate Change Convention. While we will do our part, we look forward to a reinvigorated global partnership that promotes and complements domestic policies and priorities, in line with our development needs,” he said.
While quoting the Father of the Nation Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the prime minister said that our adherence to the ideals of empowering women and protecting their rights stems from our faith, our Constitution and the vision of our founding fathers. “As Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah said, ‘No nation can rise to the height of glory unless women are side by side with men’.”
He said that all countries stand to benefit from empowerment of women. “We are therefore determined to ensure a more central role for women in the political, economic, as well as other spheres of national life,” he said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made it clear that despite the new wave of difficulties being faced by various developing economies, Pakistan wouldn’t devalue the rupee since its economy was on the path of stability and doing well.
In an exclusive breakfast table chat here in the Waldorf Astoria hotel with The News, he said the international community has trust in Pakistan’s economy and investors are returning to Pakistan and in the encouraging environment, the government would maintain the flow. He said the economy has come out of the worst period of depression and the government would take every step required to boost it further. The prime minister referred to some countries that have devalued their currencies and said that Pakistan has trust in its economic indicators that have gained appreciable strength during the recent months.
Nawaz Sharif reminded that some pessimistic ‘experts’ were expressing fear that it would be hard to reach the mark of 500 million dollars but they were proven incorrect as the tally had touched one billion mark. “It indicates the confidence of investors in Pakistan’s economy,” the prime minister maintained. He lauded the efforts of Senator Dar for the crowning the Euro-Bond launching with great success.
The prime minister is interacting with a number of world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Barack Obama, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chairman Bill Gates Foundation, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and number of others. He is also taking part in the deliberation summits hosted by the Chinese and US presidents separately on significant subjects of world interest.
Interestingly, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after addressing a summit on Sustainable Development Goals the other day disappeared from the city.
To a query, Nawaz, who has been conducted here by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Dr Maleeha Lodhi, said that Pakistan had played a long, effective and impressive role in the United Nations that is commemorating its 70th year of birth. He said it is a historic event and Pakistan being a part of the world body couldn’t afford to lag behind. About 160 heads of state/governments are in the city that is abuzz with hooters and protocol limousines. Pakistan is also taking part with a leading role in the significant meeting of the majority members group of Uniting for Consensus (UFC) that is actively working for the UN reforms. Nawaz will also informally interact with the UFC’s core member leaders during his stay here. He said that Pakistan would contribute in efforts for reformation of the United Nations that would make the world body more democratic, efficient and representative without increasing the number of veto-powered permanent members of the body.
Meanwhile, Dr Maleeha Lodhi said the issue of wall at the working boundary had already been raised at the UN and Pakistan would oppose the construction of this proposed wall.