PM at the UN

In a forceful and impassioned please for justice and peace, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s address to the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly shone a spotlight on the occupied territories of Palestine and Kashmir, making a case for the global community’s moral obligation to end the injustices in these regions. Whether mothers in Gaza holding the lifeless bodies of their children or Kashmiris living under the yoke of brutal occupation, the prime minister demanded that the world pay attention. And the Pakistani delegation walked its talk as well – through its symbolic walkout during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech. PM Shehbaz did not mince any words when addressing India’s brutal occupation of Kashmir. Referring to New Delhi’s August 2019 unilateral revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, the prime minister warned that this measure would fail, while also reminding India that Pakistan would respond “to any Indian aggression”.

From the Ukraine war to climate change, poverty, and rising debt burdens, the prime minister focused also on these other problems that disproportionately affect vulnerable nations like Pakistan. In his remarks on the climate crisis, he highlighted the injustice of Pakistan’s plight: despite contributing less than one percent to global emissions, the country suffered $30 billion in damages from catastrophic floods in 2022. It is in this context that his call for the principle of ‘the polluter must pay’ to be upheld has to be seen – an indictment indeed of the Global North’s environmental responsibility. The prime minister also spoke on issues affecting Pakistan domestically, in particular terorism. Reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to combating the terror that has cost the nation 80,000 lives and $150 billion in economic losses was important – despite observeers questioning why he brought up domestic issues. However, it is important for Pakistan to point out just how much of the country stands exposed to terror due to policies propped up by Western nations.

While calling for collective global action on issues like climate change, poverty, and terrorism, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made the very important point that the Global South countries (like Pakistan) need help and support to achieve SDGs and climate goals; this would include climate finance as promised by developed countries. The UN Summit of the Future has just adopted the Pact for the Future. As a signatory, Pakistan must push all it can for a more equitable climate justice model – one in which, as PM Shehbaz put it, the polluter pays. And pays well and on time. Eventually, the question we ask after every such international gathering is: will the global community finally rise to the challenge, or will it once again turn a blind eye to the systematic subjugation of the oppressed, the sheer injustice against the poor and under-developed, and the impunity of those that collude with the West in its power games? The prime minister’s final words – “The weak are not voiceless, the oppressed should not lose hope " – make one wonder whether the world will ever be willing to take action.