President Zardari for stronger cooperation with Commonwealth

Celina Ali

Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari has emphasised the need for stronger cooperation with the Commonwealth in areas of climate change, education, parliamentary exchanges and disaster preparedness.

He called for enhanced interactions among parliamentary bodies, particularly young parliamentarians and students, to further strengthen and promote the bonds of friendship with Commonwealth member states.

The president expressed these views while talking to a delegation led by the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, on Tuesday.

Welcoming the delegation, the president said that Pakistan, being the founding member of the Commonwealth, attached great importance to this organization for promoting cooperation among member states.

The meeting exchanged views on the consequences of climate change for Pakistan. The president said that Pakistan had suffered a lot due to the impacts of climate change. He informed that over 2 million mangroves had been planted in Sindh to mitigate the impacts of climate change which had also earned $ 27 million by trading carbon credits in the international market.

He also mentioned that the Sindh government had started constructing 2 million flood-resilient houses in the wake of the floods of 2022.

Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said that Pakistan was facing huge challenges relating to Climate Change and was among the countries most vulnerable to its consequences.

She highlighted the Commonwealth’s robust engagement with Pakistan and expressed her gratitude for Pakistan’s continuous support for the work of the organization.

The president appreciated Secretary-General Patricia Scotland’s climate advocacy for Pakistan in meeting the adverse impacts of climate change, especially in the aftermath of the climate-change-induced devastating floods in 2022.