Web Desk (LTN NEWS): Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met with Kuwait’s Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah and Belarus’s Vladimir Makei on Friday. They talked about issues that were important to both countries.
The meetings, according to the Foreign Office, took place during the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Foreign Minister Bilawal also met with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and the head of the Digital Cooperation Organization, Ms. Deemah Al Yahya (DCO).
FM Bilawal asks the rest of the world to help Pakistan
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the government of Pakistan took “quick and effective” steps to deal with the unprecedented floods that have caused “colossal” damage. He also asked for generous international help during the next stages of recovery and rebuilding.
As he was wrapping up his work at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, he held a press conference where he called for “climate justice” for Pakistan. It is clear that climate change and global warming are to blame for this disaster.
The foreign minister told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, “This is a tragedy on a grand scale.”
Many of Pakistan’s glaciers melted this summer because of the high temperatures, which caused early floods and made it rain more than usual
He said that Pakistan thought the total damage from the floods was over $30 billion, which is 10% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). He also said that one-third of the country was under water.
Over 1,500 people died, and thousands more were hurt. 33 million people have been hurt, and 6 million are now homeless. More than a million homes, 7,000 kilometers of roads, 300 bridges, and 5 million acres of crops and orchids were destroyed.
Read FM Bilawal and Malala meet at UN headquarters
Pakistan has been on the list of the top 10 countries most likely to be affected by climate change for many years, even though it only contributes 0.8% of the world’s Green House Gas (GHG).
At the same time, FM Bilawal said that Pakistan was making plans for recovery once the flood waters went down. He said that the destroyed infrastructure would be rebuilt in a much better way so that it could withstand natural disasters in the future.
The $160 million joint UN-Pakistan Flash Appeal from August 30 is being improved, and once the damage estimates are done, a donor conference will be held to raise money for rebuilding and repairing the areas that were destroyed, he said.
In response to a number of questions, Pakistan’s foreign minister said that the country thought it was important to work with the Afghan Interim Government to help the international community reach its goals of promoting human rights, including women’s rights, political inclusion, and effective and all-around action against terrorist groups in Afghanistan.
He also said that Pakistan supports the right of women to go to school.
FM Bilawal criticized India’s unilateral and illegal actions on August 5, 2019, to annex Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and to impose what the Indian government has ominously called a “Final Solution.” He said that New Delhi had taken away the political space for a peaceful and negotiated solution that could be acceptable to all parties.
