Pakistan wants peaceful, stable Afghanistan: Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Friday said Pakistan had a vital interest in a peaceful, stable, united and prosperous Afghanistan and would enable both countries to serve as a bridge connecting Central Asia and the Arabian Sea and beyond.

“There are numerous ‘shovel-ready’ projects awaiting peace in Afghanistan, such as the TAPI gas pipeline from Turkmenistan, the CASA-1000 electricity grid from Tajikistan and the railway connecting Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he added.

The foreign minister was addressing through video-link the forum of Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the third Charter organ of the United Nations - on its 75th anniversary.

He further said a just solution was essential for the Jammu and Kashmir dispute on the basis of the UN Charter, Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

“Positive steps reversing the cause of current tensions can open the way for dialogue and trade,” the foreign minister remarked.

“It is said that war is conceived in the minds of men. Likewise, desire for peace and cooperation can also emerge from the minds of men and women who, if inspired by reason, and aware of the momentous global challenges confronting humanity, cannot but opt for international cooperation rather than rivalry and confrontation,” he added.

The foreign minister said that debates and discussions of the Economic and Social Council were an essential vehicle to promote such recognition of the imperative of cooperation to enable humanity build a shared future of peace and prosperity. He said as the UN Charter had prescribed equal priority to peace and development, one cannot be realized without the other.

“The Economic and Social Council is mandated, under the Charter, to promote better standards of life in larger freedoms through international economic cooperation,” he added.

The foreign minister said today ECOSOC’s role had become even more critical than it was 75 years ago.

Qureshi said Agenda 2030, the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the Paris Agreements and the Biodiversity Convention provided the blueprint for such an agreed global strategy.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan outlined the main elements of such a strategy on 13 July in his address to the High-Level Political Forum: early and universal access to the COVID-19 vaccines; adequate development finance; scaled up investment in SDG and climate relevant sectors, especially in sustainable infrastructure, and rectification of the deficiencies and inequities in the global financial, tax, trade and technology structures, including an end to illicit financial flows out of developing countries.

“Massive investment in sustainable infrastructure energy, transportation, agriculture, and manufacturing is indispensable to achieve the SDGs and the climate objectives,” he added.

He said Pakistan’s infrastructure development strategy was designed to take advantage of its large pool of young people and its geo-economic location at the crossroads of South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia and China.

To leverage private sector investments for sustainable development, he said, Pakistan was launching its first ever SDG Investor Map.

The Map will identify Investment Opportunity Areas and business models that could advance private investment for the achievement of SDGs in Pakistan, he added.

The foreign minister further said that with the welcome support and cooperation of our partner China, Pakistan was forging ahead with implementation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative. The first phase of CPEC was nearly complete and the second phase, envisaging the creation of several Special Economic Zones (SEZs), had been initiated, he said, adding, those SEZs were open to participation of third countries.

The foreign minister said that Pakistan greatly appreciated the intention of several fraternal and friendly countries, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey and others, to invest in Pakistan’s economy.

“We have noted with interest the decision of the G7 countries to launch the ‘Build Back Better World’ infrastructure initiative which can complement existing initiatives,” he maintained.