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Khankendi, Azerbaijan: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday urged stronger regional cooperation in the face of increasing geopolitical tensions, including the Iran-Israel conflict and Indian hostility towards Pakistan, stressing that the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) offered the country its \u201cbest hope\u201d for a unified response.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, addressing the 17th ECO Summit in Azerbaijan\u2019s Khankendi city, the prime minister said two recent events \u2014 the Iran-Israel war and the India-Pakistan conflict \u2014 showed that \u201cthe forces of instability and chaos continue to destabilise our region for geo-political agendas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe evolving global landscape has made regional cooperation even more essential,\u201d PM Shehbaz said while addressing the 10-nation Eurasian bloc. \u201cECO represents our best hope, and Pakistan is a proud partner in these collective efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking about the 12-day Iran-Israel war, he said that \u201cthe unlawful, uncalled for and unjustified Israeli attack on Iran was the most recent manifestation of this dangerous trend.\u201d<\/p>\n
PM Shehbaz condemned the recent Indian aggression against Pakistan and New Delhi\u2019s attempts to weaponise water by holding the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unprovoked and reckless Indian hostility directed at Pakistan after an unfortunate incident in India\u2019s illegally occupied Kashmir was yet another attempt to destabilise regional peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world saw the steadfast determination of our armed forces under the leadership of Field Marshal Asim Munir and the unyielding spirit of our resilient people who stood firm in the face of provocation and responded with courage and professionalism.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are witnessing a new and alarming trend with India\u2019s weaponisation of water, illegal attempt to defy the World Bank-negotiated Indus Water Treaty and its blatant disregard for the recent ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) are unacceptable and should be rejected with contempt.\u201d<\/p>\n
PM Shehbaz said the Indus waters were the lifeline of Pakistan\u2019s 240 million people and India couldn\u2019t be allowed to \u201cpursue this dangerous path that will be regarded as an act of aggression by the people of Pakistan\u201d.<\/p>\n
The prime minister also voiced concerns over the situation in Gaza and the ongoing Israeli strikes there, which have killed more than 57,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world is witnessing an unprecedented man-made catastrophe in Gaza, a region that has descended into an abyss of perpetual suffering,\u201d the premier said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is as if humanity no longer exists as famine looms large, while humanitarian workers, including UN personnel, are being attacked with impunity by Israel to cut off the only lifeline of the helpless and starving people of Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Pakistan stood firmly against those who \u201cperpetrate barbaric acts against innocent people, whether in Gaza, occupied Kashmir or Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n
Regarding the effects of climate change, the prime minister said Pakistan had undertaken a series of climate-related policy initiatives focused on the government\u2019s Resilience, Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Framework (4RF).<\/p>\n
He proposed the development of low-emission corridors, ECO-wide carbon market platforms and a regional disaster resistance system.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, PM Shehbaz held a bilateral meeting with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the ECO Summit.<\/p>\n
The two leaders expressed satisfaction over the progress made regarding investment prospects and agreed to enhance cooperation in the fields of trade and investment.<\/p>\n
They reiterated their resolve to strengthen the economic partnership, especially Azerbaijan\u2019s investment in Pakistan, according to a statement by the PM\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
PM Shehbaz reaffirmed that the recent interactions between the leadership of both countries helped in making the relationship even stronger. He also invited President Aliyev to visit Pakistan.<\/p>\n
In a post on X, the prime minister said he congratulated President Aliyev on \u201csuccessfully hosting the summit and lauded Azerbaijan\u2019s proactive role in ECO\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said they \u201creviewed the progress in Pakistan-Azerbaijan bilateral ties, which are growing stronger through our frequent and productive high-level exchanges\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe reaffirmed our commitment to deepen cooperation across diverse sectors, particularly trade and investment,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The prime minister also met Iran\u2019s President Masoud Pezeshkian discussed regional developments following the recent Israel-Iran war, said a statement issued by the Press Information Department.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the meeting, both leaders reviewed the ongoing bilateral cooperation across all areas and expressed satisfaction over the progress made on the decisions taken during their last meeting for further strengthening of Pakistan-Iran relations,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Khankendi, Azerbaijan: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday urged stronger regional cooperation in the face of increasing geopolitical tensions, including the Iran-Israel conflict and Indian hostility towards Pakistan, stressing that the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) offered the country its \u201cbest hope\u201d for a unified response. According to Kashmir Media Service, addressing the 17th ECO Summit …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":178367,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-178366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistans-support-to-kashmir","tag-top-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178366\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}