Pakistan carries out outer space activities for peaceful purposes: envoy

Ambassador Aftab Ahmad Khokher has said that focus of Pakistan’s national space programme has always been the pursuit of sustainable socio-economic progress.

He said this while addressing the 15th meeting of the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG) in Vienna, according to an official statement issued on Tuesday.

Pakistan’s envoy to Austria further said that Pakistan, as a state party to all five core multilateral treaties on outer space, carried out all of its outer space activities in a peaceful, transparent and safe manner in accordance with the relevant international norms, with the ultimate objective of enhancing well-being of humankind.

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Ambassador Khokher said that like other developing nations, Pakistan was trying to harness space technologies in diverse fields such as urban planning, transport, water resource management, agriculture, public health, disaster management, as well as environmental pollution and climate change.

He added that the recent adoption of the Space 2030 Agenda by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space at its 64th Session will give a further fillip to developing countries’ efforts to use space as a driver for sustainable development.

The ambassador said that the Global Navigation Satelite System (GNSS) technologies had become an integral part of our societies and economies.

He also said that the ability to accurately and reliably locate positions was an indispensable need in modern economies with wide ranging implications for the environment, management of natural resources, disaster warning and emergency response.

He said that satellite navigations systems were playing an indispensable role in socio-economic growth and sustainable development, therefore, Pakistan attached great importance GNSS applications in myriad fields of the economy.