Anwaarul Haq Kakar addresses Council on Foreign Relations n Says Pakistan stands ready to work with US and all partners n PM lauds China’s unflinching support to Pakistan’s socio-economic development.

 

NEW YORK  -  Prime Minister An­waarul Haq Kakar has expressed the be­lief that a strong Paki­stan-US relation can be a force for stability and progress in South Asia and beyond.

He was addressing the prominent US-think tank Council on Foreign Rela­tions, on the sidelines of the 78th UNGA session in New York on Thursday.

The Prime Minister, however, said that en­during partnerships are not built overnight as they require patience, understanding and in­vestment on both sides.

He said Pakistan stands ready to work with the United States and all partners, who share our vision of a peaceful and prosperous world, where cooperation tri­umphs over conflicts.

He expressed the opti­mism that US continued support and engage­ment will be crucial economically, diplomat­ically and in promoting people to people ties.

Anwaarul Haq Kakar said shared value of de­mocracy, human rights and rule of law has been the foundation of Pakistan-US enduring partnership spanning over decades and will continue to do so as we have revitalized this re­lationship.

He recalled that both countries have pros­pered whenever we have worked together. He said our bilateral agenda en­compasses security co­operation trade and in­vestment, IT, energy, climate change, agriculture as well as overall connectivity and en­hanced people to people link­ages through greater educa­tion and cultural exchanges.

On economic collaboration, the Prime Minister said the United States is our largest export destination with an impressive total of 8.4 billion dollars last year. He said it is his government’s priority to improve Pakistan’s business climate and attract US capital and expertise. He added that over 80 US enterprises are al­ready operating and thriving in Pakistan. He said we have established a Special Invest­ment Facilitation Council to make Pakistan an attractive destination for investment and innovation in key areas such as agriculture, mining and minerals, Information Technology, energy and de­fence production.

Highlighting the impor­tance of people to people con­tacts, Anwaarul Haq Kakar said there are nearly one mil­lion Pakistani-Americans or Americans of Pakistani origin living in the United States, ex­celling in all fields and acting as a bridge between Pakistan and the United States.

He said our brightest young men and women aspire to study in US colleges and uni­versities through several scholarship programmes, in­cluding the Fulbright award. He said we look forward to enhancing education cooper­ation. Talking about the cli­mate change challenge, the Prime Minister said Pakistan contributes less than one per­cent of global Greenhouse gas emissions. He said Pakistan is working hard to mitigate car­bon emissions and transition to renewable but we and oth­er developing nations cannot shoulder the burden alone. He said pursing climate justice requires a collective response with far greater actions and industrialized nations.

Commenting on the men­ace of terrorism, Anwaarul Haq Kakar said the resur­gence of this threat by dan­gerous entities like TTP is a matter of grave concern for Pakistan and the entire inter­national community.

He urged the global commu­nity to stand united in the face of this newly emerging threat. He said we have done before to ensure the safety and se­curity of our people, a stable Afghanistan continues to re­main an important foreign policy priority for Pakistan and the United States. About Afghan issue, he welcomed the US direct engagement with the Afghan Government and said that Pakistan on its part would continue to push Afghan authorities to honour their commitments, including women rights, girls’ educa­tion and ensuring that Afghan soil is not used for terrorist at­tacks against other countries.

Regarding regional situ­ation, the prime minister said Pakistan understands that peace and stability in its neighborhood is an es­sential prerequisite for eco­nomic prosperity and so­cial sector development. He said in this spirit, we desire to have peaceful relations with all countries in the re­gion and beyond. He said Pa­kistan does not wish to join any camp politics. He said Pa­kistan has successfully main­tained good relations with both the US and China and would continue to do so.

The prime minister further said that Pakistan remains desirous of peaceful relations with India, but our quest re­quires reciprocal sincerity by the Indian Government. He said measures taken by India in 2019 in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kash­mir have pushed our region into a dangerous and dark alley. He said the govern­ment and the people of Pa­kistan are deeply concerned about the deteriorating hu­man rights situation in IIOJK, including attempts by the BJP government to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory.

He said the rising wave of Hindutva, inspired by an­ti-Muslim extremism in India and other minorities should be a matter of deep concern for the entire internation­al community, including the United States. Anwaarul Haq Kakar urged the US Adminis­tration to persuade the Indi­an Government that without amicably resolving the Kash­mir dispute as per the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, we cannot free the people of South Asia from perennial instability.

Meanwhile, Caretak­er Prime Minister Anwaaru -Haq Kakar has appreciated China’s unflinching support to Pakistan’s territorial in­tegrity, sovereignty and so­cio-economic development.

The Prime Minister and Vice-President of China Han Zheng met at the sidelines of UNGA Summit in New York on Thursday. The Prime Minister noted that China’s firm opposi­tion to holding any G20 meet­ing in the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir reflected China’s principled stance for upholding international law and UN resolutions. The con­versation was marked by tra­ditional warmth and cordiali­ty that has been the hallmark of Pakistan-China All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partner­ship. During the meeting, the two leaders exchanged views on the entire gamut of bilater­al relationship including CPEC and bilateral economic and fi­nancial cooperation.

In his remarks, Vice-Pres­ident Han Zheng said that Pakistan-China friendship is unique and has withstood the vicissitude of time due to deep fraternal ties between the peoples of two nations.

He said as a close neighbor and iron-brother, Pakistan occupies a special position in China’s neighbourhood diplomacy and that China would continue its efforts for safeguarding Pakistan’s core interests and for the econom­ic development and prosper­ity of the people of Pakistan.

Expressing satisfaction at the steady development of CPEC projects in Pakistan, the two sides agreed on the centrality of CPEC for Paki­stan’s socio-economic devel­opment and expressed their firm commitment to continue working together for realiz­ing its shared objectives. The two leaders also expressed satisfaction at the celebratory events held in both countries to mark the 10th anniversary of CPEC. They also agreed to further deepening their co­operation at the multilater­al fora. Prime Minister and Vice-President agreed to con­tinue the momentum of high level exchanges between Pa­kistan and China. The Prime Minister invited Chinese Vice-President to undertake a visit to Pakistan at his ear­liest convenience which the latter graciously accepted.