Zardari calls for reinvigorating multilateralism

DOHA: President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday stressed the need for reinvigorating multilateralism at a time when the world is witnessing the global trade war and lack of cooperation even in the case of climate change which threatens the entire planet.

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The comments came at a time when the White House announced that the United States will not send any high-level officials to the upcoming COP30 climate summit in Brazil.

A White House official said President Donald Trump has already made his administration’s views on multilateral climate action clear in his speech at last month’s United Nations General Assembly, where he called climate change the world’s “greatest con job” and chided countries for setting climate policies that he said “have cost their countries fortunes.”

On Monday, Zardari, in his address to the Second World Summit for Social Development, described inclusive and sustainable development as Pakistan’s vision.

The summit expresses determination to ensure social justice, quality and human dignity, said the president who also called for setting aside “divisions” and “differences” to march forward to achieve justice and collective development.

Read more: SCO summit: Guterres says China’s support for multilateralism vital

In this connection, he praised the Doha Declaration, saying the document would pave the way for poverty alleviation and sustainable development.

WEAPONISATION OF INDUS WATERS TREATY

In his address, Zardari also discussed the issue of Indus Waters Treaty which India suspended unilaterally soon after the Pahalgam attack while ignoring Pakistan’s offer to hold an impartial probe into the incident.

“We in Pakistan, on one hand, face the brunt of the impact of climate change, which has caused devastation for our people in the form of large-scale floods … on the other hand, we face a new threat in the form of water weaponisation. Water, which all the world knows, is an equal right of any human being and humanity.”

He added, “We are being threatened from across the border with a new threat in the form of weaponisation of water, violation of the IWT. This poses a serious threat to 240 million Pakistanis. Such tactics cannot and will not succeed.”