All steps being taken for Chinese nationals’ protection: PM

BAKU: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that the government of Pakistan was taking all possible steps to ensure the security of Chinese nationals.

The prime minister met with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on the sidelines of the Climate Action Summit of COP-29 and highlighted the steps taken by the government for the security of the Chinese nationals in Pakistan. Both leaders also discussed the bilateral cooperation.

PM Shehbaz also highlighted the steps taken by the government to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism and reiterated that the government was committed to root out terrorism from the country.

Referring to the recent visit of the Chinese premier to Pakistan, Shehbaz said that China was a long-standing friend of Pakistan and a new era of strengthening relations between the two countries had begun.

The Chinese vice premier expressed his desire to work with Pakistan to overcome security challenges and further expand Pak-China cooperation for the development and prosperity of the peoples of the two countries.

Meanwhile, addressing the High-Level Segment of the “World Leaders’ Climate Action Summit” of the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), the prime minister, while sensitising the global community on the risks posed by climate change and the vulnerabilities of developing countries, called for grant-based climate finance that should not add to the debt burden of the developing nations.

He called for fulfilling the pledges of COP27 and COP28 as well as those made in Paris 10 years ago.

He viewed that the COP29 would help understand the calamities already faced by some of the countries and others might face if counter-measures were not taken to create a conducive environment to avert calamities.

Highlighting the devastation faced by the people of Pakistan caused by the climate change-induced floods in 2022, he recalled his interaction with a boy Ikramullah in the flood-hit Balochistan who had lost everything to the calamity including his home, school, and entire village.

Shehbaz told the summit that his government had taken concrete actions to deliver on its commitment to producing 60 percent of all energy from clean sources and shifting 30 percent of vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs) by the end of this decade. At the same time, Pakistan is going through a renewable energy revolution, he said and also mentioned the presentation of a comprehensive National Adaptation Plan last year and the National Carbon Market Framework this year.

Meanwhile, in a meeting with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the COP-29, Prime Minister Shehbaz praised the strong ties between Pakistan and Azerbaijan and expressed optimism about further enhancing cooperation in various fields, including technology sharing and joint ventures in renewable energy.

Separately, on his X handle, the prime minister posted that he held a most warm and cordial meeting with brother President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar called on the developed nations to honour their climate finance pledges to provide accessible and grants-based climate financing to achieve developing counties’ climate goals.

The deputy prime minister attended a high-level event convened by the United Secretary-General on ‘Delivering Early Warnings for All (EW4All) and Addressing Extreme Heat’ on the sidelines of the COP29.

Addressing the high-level event, Dar reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to safeguarding lives and protecting communities from the unpredictable and severe impacts of climate change.

He said that they stood united in their commitment to safeguard the livelihood, lives, protect communities and ensure that no one was left unprotected from the unpredictable and severe impacts of the climate change.

Later, PM Shehbaz left for Pakistan after wrapping up his three-day official visit to Azerbaijan.

Separately, in a message on World Diabetes Day being observed on November 14 (today), PM Shehbaz said that the Government of Pakistan was fully committed to controlling the escalation in diabetes and delivering well-being to diabetic population.

“Alarmingly, there are still 50 percent of diabetic patients undiagnosed and consequently untreated. This further leads to an enhanced burden of uncontrolled diabetic patients with complications such as heart disease, kidney failure, neurological disorders, stroke and blindness,” he added.

“The major risk factors leading to diabetes in Pakistan are environmental and geographical reasons in addition to genetic variants, dietary, as well as inactive lifestyle,” he observed.