ISLAMABAD: International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan will be held in Geneva, Switzerland on January 9 to mobilize support towards building back better after the recent devastating floods in Pakistan. This was announced by Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch while speaking at her weekly news briefing here in Islamabad on Thursday. She said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will co-chair the conference.
The spokesperson said Pakistan will present the reconstruction rehabilitation, recovery and resilience framework based on post disaster needs assessment launched in October this year to estimate the flood damages. She said the conference will engage the international community to mobilize support towards building back better after devastating floods. It will also be an opportunity to hold an informed dialogue on climate adaptation and resilience and to discuss supportive arrangements for the recovery processes.
The Prime Minister and the UN Secretary General have jointly addressed an invitation letter to donor countries, international financial institutions and other development partners for this conference. The spokesperson said a comprehensive dossier has been developed highlighting India’s involvement in a deadly terrorist attack in Johar Town, Lahore last year. She said our law enforcement agencies with the support of international counterparts have found concrete evidence that the masterminds, financiers and the facilitators of Lahore terrorist attack were Indian nationals and are located in India.
The spokesperson said the Indian agencies recruited terrorists for this attack, trained them, and provided those finances and logistic support. Pakistan has initiated international legal proceedings including from Interpol and Mutual Legal Assistance processes to bring those responsible to justice.
Responding to a question, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch rejected the statement by the Indian External Affairs Ministry on the recent visit of the OIC Secretary General to Azad Jammu and Kashmir. She said we consider it as untenable. She said Jammu and Kashmir is one of the oldest internationally recognized disputes on the agenda of the UN Security Council and it remains unresolved due to India’s intransigence and unwillingness to implement the UNSC resolutions.
She urged the international community including the OIC to play their role in highlighting the atrocities in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The spokesperson said peace in South Asia has remained hostage to India’s illegally occupation of and brutalities in illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. She said India’s hegemonic ambitions have caused tensions with its neighbors and its hubris for domination remains a primary obstacle to meaningful regional cooperation.