PM hopes Biden will follow Trump's strategy in Afghanistan

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday praised outgoing United States President Donald Trump for his role in the resumption of peace dialogues in Afghanistan and expressed hope that the president-elect, Joe Biden would continue to follow his predecessor's strategy in the war-torn country.

“Someone asked me about Trump's achievements, I said the resumption of the peace process after so many years in Afghanistan was his greatest achievement. President Trump did a great job,” he said while speaking at the World Economic Forum Country Strategy Dialogue on Pakistan via video link.

PM Imran expressed hope that Biden will not pull back from the good work done by Trump in Afghanistan.

He also warned against the spoilers of Afghan peace, saying that the level of violence has increased in the neighbouring country. PM Imran said that there was a great hope that the dialogues in Afghanistan would succeed.

Talking about the resurgence of Covid-19 cases in Pakistan, the premier said that the country was hitting a second peak of the virus and this time around, the level of compliance [of SOPs] from the people has been low as compared to the first wave.

The prime minister said that Pakistan cannot afford another lockdown and the government has decided that it will not shut down factories and businesses because the consequences of locking down these sectors would be far more devastating that coronavirus.

“Instead of total lockdown, we went for smart lockdown so that daily wagers could continue earning and feeding their families," PM Imran said.

He said that Pakistan was one of those fortunate countries which have done well despite Covid-19 pandemic. “We’ve made a number of reforms which has resulted in setting our economy on the right track. Faisalabad is now short of labour because the textile business is thriving more than capacity," he added.

Talking about China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he said that the project was not exclusive to China. "CPEC started with the vision of connectivity, anyone can join the CPEC," he added.

Pakistan was modernising its railway with China's assistance, said the premier, adding that ML-1 would connect Karachi to Peshawar and the duration for the journey would shorten significantly.

‘Urgent need for climate action’

Earlier, in an article of the World Economic Forum's Country Strategic Dialogue on Pakistan 2020, the prime minister said that climate change was one of the defining global challenges faced by our generation which has far-reaching adverse economic, social and political impacts.

"The world is already witnessing unprecedented floods, severe droughts, increasing heat waves, spreading wildfires and fierce cyclonic activity. All of these pose a clear and present danger for humanity."

He said that while no country is immune from these impacts of climate change, most developing countries remain disproportionately affected by its negative impacts.

"Pakistan is a case in point, as it lies at the geographic crossroads of melting glaciers, unpredictably shifting monsoons and enhanced disaster activity triggered by climate change," he added.

The premier said that despite Pakistan’s diminutive contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, the country was the fifth most climate-impacted country in the world, as indicated by the Germanwatch Global Climate Risk Index, 2020.

"There is an urgent need for simultaneously raising ambition for climate action, while also building resilience and adapting to the inescapable impacts of climate change."

He said that climate action by the developing countries, however, has to be based on the established principles of Equity and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR–RC) - as agreed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement.

"It is also vital that developing countries are supported with enhanced climate finance, appropriate technology transfer and supportive capacity-building. In this regard, the existing pledge by the developed countries to mobilize $100 billion annually in climate finance for the developing countries remains critically essential, but as yet unfulfilled."