Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has reaffirmed Pakistan’s full support for China’s Global Development Initiative (GDI), calling it a vital platform for cooperation among Global South nations and developing countries amid widening financial gaps, climate disasters and rising living costs.
Addressing a high-level meeting on the GDI hosted by the Chinese vice president, the prime minister also highlighted the need for stronger multilateral cooperation to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Prime Minister Sharif said only four years remain until the 2030 deadline, while progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals remains insufficient and slow.
He noted that widening financial gaps and severe climate-related disasters continue to obstruct sustainable development. Rising food and fuel prices have further compounded the difficulties faced by developing countries.
The prime minister stressed that strong multilateral cooperation is essential to address these challenges, adding that China and its Global Development Initiative have made timely progress in this direction.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said President Xi Jinping introduced the milestone Global Development Initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the world today acknowledges President Xi Jinping’s wise decisions and visionary leadership, while emphasizing that the GDI framework has translated into tangible and practical benefits for the developing world.
According to the prime minister, the initiative provides an important platform for cooperation among countries of the Global South and developing nations.
He also noted that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is now entering its second phase, further underscoring the importance of Pakistan-China cooperation in development and connectivity.
Addressing the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan has chosen peace and dialogue over confrontation.
He said resolving prevailing conflicts, including those in the Middle East, Kashmir and Palestine, is crucial to restoring global trust and peace.
“We live at a dangerous moment. But our future is certainly not predetermined,” the prime minister said, stressing that both war and peace are choices.
He said Pakistan had chosen dialogue over confrontation, cooperation over coercion and peace over war, adding that sometimes greater courage lies not in starting a war but in preventing one.
Global and regional challenges
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s UNGA address covered a wide range of pressing global and regional issues. He highlighted the situation in the Middle East, human rights violations and humanitarian crises in Palestine and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The prime minister also raised India’s unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty and the rising threat of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.
Climate change, widening economic and debt burdens on developing countries, and the urgent need for global de-escalation and dialogue were also among the key issues highlighted on the occassion.
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