New York: (Web Desk) Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has made an urgent appeal to the international donors for debt relief and special programs for rehabilitation of flood-affected people of the country.
In an interview with Bloomberg in New York today, he said “Pakistan needs additional funds to tackle the destruction wreaked by climate induced catastrophic floods.”
Furthermore the Prime Minster said “it is impossible to revive our economy with this unprecedented destruction without substantial debt relief we have a recent IMF agreement with very tough conditions compelling us to impose taxes every month on electricity and petroleum products.”
Shehbaz Sharif is also said he has talked to Paris Club and IMF in this regard.
According to the source, he said while the country is already facing an economic crunch, the unprecedented floods displaced millions of people, destroyed standing crops on millions of hectares besides destruction thousands of houses.
The Prime Minister said “we now have to rehabilitate these millions of people, provide them safe housing, medical facilities, build climate resilient infrastructure and restore agricultural lands destroyed by floods.”
He added that “Pakistan will also have to import tons of wheat this year to meet its food requirements as millions of acres of agricultural land has been inundated by floods.”
The Prime Minister said “it is very unfortunate that Pakistan’s contribution in carbon emission is only zero point eight percent but it is among the ten most vulnerable countries to be affected from climate change.”
Moreover, referring to his interactions with world leaders on the sidelines of United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) session, Shehbaz Sharif said the whole international community has rendered us all-out support realizing the calamitous situation.
To a question about oil import from Russia, he said he has talked to President Vladimir Putin in this regard but nothing has been finalized yet.
To a question about India, he said if India wants to talk, Pakistan is ready to negotiate on all outstanding issues with Kashmir on the top of agenda.
He said the two countries must realize that we are neighbors forever and should channel our abilities and resources for the good of peoples instead of fighting each other.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.