SAMARKAND: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday departed from Samarkand on a "satisfactory note" after completing his two-day visit to Uzbekistan, where he went to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Head of States (CHS) meeting.

During the meeting, the prime minister highlighted the recent catastrophic floods in Pakistan and asked to "build a wall" against climate change.

"Leaving Samarkand on a satisfactory note. There is now a renewed awareness about the potent threat of climate change. SCO countries understand it is capable of reversing all our material development and pushing us backward by decades. All the more reason for a united front," PM Shehbaz wrote on Twitter after concluding the trip. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also highlighted the devastation Pakistan has witnessed due to the recent catastrophic floods and called for “building a wall” against the menace of climate change.

 “I have never before seen this kind of devastation,” the prime minister said, as he addressed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) Council of Heads of State (CHS) meeting in Samarkand. In his speech, he also highlighted that abandoning Afghanistan this time around would be a “big mistake”. Moreover, PM in meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping appreciated transformational impact of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on Pakistan's socio-economic development, reaffirming his government's commitment to high quality development of CPEC.

 During bilateral meeting took place on sidelines of annual meeting of Council of Heads of State of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, both leaders reviewed entire gamut of bilateral relations and exchanged views on important regional and international issues of mutual interest.

He thanked President Xi, government and people of China for generous and timely support to flood affected people in Pakistan and for extended cooperation to Pakistan for its sovereignty and territorial integrity, FATF, national development, Covid-19 endemic and other areas.

Published in The Daily National Courier, September, 17 2022

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