Secretary General Commonwealth Patricia Scotland calls on Prime Minister

Celina Ali

Islamabad: Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland, leading a 5-member delegation, called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister House on Thursday.

The Prime Minister welcomed Secretary-General Scotland on her first official visit to Pakistan. Appreciating the Commonwealth’s consistent support for Pakistan’s socio-economic and democratic institutions, the Prime Minister reaffirmed the Government’s desire to work with the Commonwealth on issues of common interest, particularly on youth empowerment, good governance and climate change. Noting that young people below the age of 30 accounted for two-thirds of Pakistan’s population, the Prime Minister said providing modern education and technical training to the youth was one of the Government’s highest priorities.

He highlighted the various initiatives taken by the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme and reiterated the Government’s commitment to working with the Commonwealth to help Pakistan’s youth by enhancing access and opportunities for them in today’s high-tech global economy. Secretary-General Scotland appreciated the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme and said that the Prime Minister’s leadership and direct supervision of this Programme was reflective of his personal interest and commitment to youth empowerment initiatives. In order to further improve the performance of government departments and know progress in real time, Ms Patricia offered the Commonwealth’s Performance Management System.

She also invited Pakistan to join the Commonwealth Artificial Intelligence Consortium (CAIC). The Prime Minister expressed keen desire to evaluate the Commonwealth Performance Management System for further improving governance and transparency in Pakistan’s public sector. He also welcomed the invitation to join CAIC where Pakistan’s youth will have opportunities for training and could benefit from global innovations such as cloud computing and generative AI and shall be more empowered to play their role in sustainable economic development. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also described combating climate change as a common priority for both Pakistan and the Commonwealth. He appreciated the Secretary-General’s climate advocacy for Pakistan, following the devastating 2022 floods.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan wanted to work with the Commonwealth in helping mobilize more international support for climate-vulnerable countries like Pakistan at the forthcoming COP29 in Baku. Secretary-General Scotland appreciated the Government’s efforts for post-flood reconstruction and hoped that the international community would provide more support in building Pakistan’s climate resilience. Looking forward towards the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa later this year, the Prime Minister and the Commonwealth Secretary-General discussed ways in which the two sides could coordinate on building consensus on key issues of mutual interest and chart a roadmap for the Commonwealth.

The Prime Minister congratulated Secretary-General Scotland on successfully steering the Commonwealth through a time of significant global change, and wished her a successful and productive stay in Pakistan. Chairman PM Youth program Rana Mashhood and SAPM Syed Tariq Fatemi also attended the meeting.