Hina Rabbani Khar calls for new fiscal model for sustainable development

Islamabad: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar has called on the Commonwealth to take the lead in developing a new fiscally responsible model for sustainable development that addressed the issues of existing debt burden.

She made the remarks at the 22nd Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM) held in London on Wednesday.

The minister led the Pakistani delegation at the meeting and represented Pakistan at the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey and the reception hosted by Secretary General Commonwealth at Buckingham Palace.

At the CFAMM, the Minister of State presented Pakistan’s perspective on global and regional developments and their implications for developing countries including Pakistan.

The Minister of State outlined the importance of international collaboration on climate change and the availability of significant, additional and predictable financial resources for climate adaptation and mitigation. She also called for early operationalization of the ‘Loss and Damage Fund’ and associated arrangements.

The CFAMM endorsed, inter alia, the initiative by the Board of Governors to modernize the Commonwealth, with the establishment of three working groups on reforms; administration and programme; and finance. Pakistan in its capacity as Vice Chair of the Board of Governors would be leading the Working Group on Administration and Programme.

On the sidelines of Commonwealth events, the Minister of State met with UK Minister of State for Development Andrew Mitchell, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka M.U.M. Ali Sabry, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs of Kenya Dr. Alfred Mutua, Canadian Parliamentary Secretary to the Foreign Minister MP Robert Oliphant, and Secretary General Commonwealth Patricia Scotland.