Both sides also agree on disaster management, carbon market collaboration n PM Shehbaz Sharif says Pakistan looks forward for Swiss cooperation in getting advanced warning system n Invites more Swiss companies to invest in Pakistan’s renewable energy, IT sectors.

 

NATHIAGALI /ISLAMABAD  -  Prime Minister Sheh­baz Sharif Saturday re­iterated the high im­portance Pakistan attached to its relations with Switzerland which were based on shared belief in fundamental principles of democra­cy and the rule of law. 

The prime minis­ter received Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confedera­tion, Federal Council­lor Ignazio Cassis. The Swiss foreign minister, accompanied by three members of the Parlia­ment, is on a bilateral visit to Pakistan from 7-9 July at the invita­tion of the prime min­ister, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release. Both sides re­affirmed their com­mitment to further en­hance bilateral ties, especially in the areas of climate change, trade and investment, development co­operation, higher education and vocational training. The prime minister thanked the Swiss gov­ernment for providing support to Pakistan in the aftermath of last year’s devastating floods. 

He also appreciated the Swiss businesses’ approach to the res­olution of issues and their work ethic, and invited more Swiss companies to invest in Pakistan, particularly in the renewable energy and IT sectors. The two sides also agreed to collaborate in tourism promotion including eco-tourism and development of related infrastructure using both the G2G and B2B channels. In this regard, it was agreed that a meeting would be con­vened shortly to further spell out modes of cooperation. 

Both sides also agreed on di­saster management, early warn­ing and carbon market collabo­ration. The prime minister also witnessed the signing of the MoU on “Disaster Management” be­tween Pakistan and Switzerland. The MoU envisages bilateral co­operation in disaster risk man­agement including preparedness, response and recovery aimed at reducing the adverse impact on the people and the economy.

Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman made a detailed presentation on the country’s climate vulnerability and on­set of an accelerated climate crises pushing the country into recovery-resilience trap. The minister explained that the ad­aptation costs were very high but Pakistan was rebuilding as much as it could. She present­ed Pakistan’s flagship program including living Indus initiative and Delta Blue Carbon project which would resume 350000 hectares of mangrove wetlands reducing 147 million metric tonnes of carbon and bringing revenues of US$ 250million. 

“Pakistan and the Swiss Con­federation enjoy cordial re­lations grounded in coopera­tion at the international forums with the common aim to con­tribute towards global peace and prosperity,” the press re­lease further added. This is the first bilateral visit to Pakistan by a Swiss foreign minister in the last 17 years. The visit of Councillor Cassis has helped re­inforce the existing friendly ties between the two countries.

‘PRODUCTIVE DISCUSSION’ 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar­if Saturday said he had a pro­ductive discussion with Foreign Minister of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis on expanding coopera­tion in trade and investment, climate change, disaster man­agement, risk reduction, early warning, higher education and building tourism infrastructure. 

In a tweet on social media plat­form Twitter, he said, “Delighted to receive Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis. We had produc­tive discussions on expanding co­operation in trade & investment, climate change, disaster man­agement, risk reduction and ear­ly warning, higher education & building tourism infrastructure.” “I appreciate Switzerland’s advo­cacy for climate-responsible sus­tainable development,” he added.

‘MOU BETWEEN PAKISTAN AND SWITZERLAND’

Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar­if on Saturday termed the sign­ing of a Memorandum of Un­derstanding (MoU) between Pakistan and Switzerland over disaster management as a vital step that would promote coop­eration between the two coun­tries to harness technology and expertise in future to tackle the natural catastrophe jointly. 

Addressing the MoU signing ceremony, the prime minister said that they looked forward for the Swiss cooperation in terms of getting an advanced warning system and other gadgets to se­cure Pakistan as much as possi­ble from natural disasters. He reiterated that Pakistan was fac­ing the impacts of global climate change, despite the fact that the country had very little carbon emissions. The prime minister also expressed that they wanted to further expand bilateral ties with Switzerland in diverse fields including the tourism sector as Pakistan was blessed with natu­ral beauty. Appreciating the Swiss foreign minister’s remarks about the peace in the region, the prime minister said that it was import­ant to maintain peace in this part of the world and that Switzer­land could play the role of cata­lyst to promote peace in the re­gion. He said that Pakistan liked to promote progress, and pros­perity, eradicate unemployment, and poverty, and enhance educa­tion, IT, industry, women empow­erment, and agriculture for the well-being of the people. 

The other side, he said, should also realize it. Pakistan could not afford tension in the region nor would like to waste its resources, they must commit their resourc­es to the development of the country, he stressed. The prime minister reiterated that there could be no lasting peace in this part of the world till their is­sues including Kashmir were re­solved. Speaking on the occasion, Foreign Minister of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis said that signing the MoU between the two coun­tries was vital for collaboration against climate change. He said Pakistan was rich in cultural heritage and breathtaking land­scapes, but it had become prone to natural disasters, resulting in last year’s floods, displacement of people with wide destruction. 

The Swiss minister said these disasters required an urgent need for international coopera­tion to mitigate the risks associat­ed with the natural catastrophes. Extending his government’s co­operation in this regard, he reaf­firmed to further strengthen the bilateral ties and to pool their re­sources in this field. He further highlighted the joint efforts be­tween the two countries during the years 2010 and 2022 when the devastating floods struck Pa­kistan, adding the Swiss govern­ment swiftly provided emergen­cy aid and supported the affected people. The foreign minister fur­ther said that they were ready to embark on the new challenges in the field of disaster management which went beyond the borders and stressed that these required global unity and collateral efforts. 

Earlier, the prime minister wit­nessed the signing of the MoU between the two countries by the visiting Swiss foreign min­ister and Chairman National Di­saster Management Authori­ty Lt. Gen. Inam Haider Malik to cooperate in the field of natural disasters. Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman, minis­ters, NDMA chairman and rele­vant authorities were present on the occasion. The document be­tween the two countries will also prove as a milestone in bring­ing the National Disaster Man­agement at par with the interna­tional standards under the vision of the prime minister. It will also help promote cooperation be­tween Pakistan and Switzerland in forecasting natural disasters, their impacts, swift response and rehabilitation measures.

PM VOWS TO ENSURE TRANSPARENCY IN SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS UNDER LAPTOP SCHEME

Meanwhile, Prime Minister She­hbaz Sharif has said that trans­parency and merit will be the guiding principles in the se­lection of recipients for laptop scheme. In a tweet today, he said the nationwide launch of Prime Minister’s laptop scheme yes­terday resumed the fascinating journey, the PML-N government had started in Punjab. He point­ed out that these laptops helped students with their studies, be­come entrepreneurs and pursue gainful careers over the last de­cade. He said the laptop scheme has truly been a game-changer, which led to sterling success sto­ries. Under the present scheme, he said one hundred thou­sand laptops will be distributed among the students of Pakistan in a phased manner. At least nine persons including three children were injured in separate rain-re­lated incidents in the provincial capital on Saturday.

Rescue workers said three girls were sleeping in a room of a house at Azhar Town, Nishtar Town area when roof of the house collapsed. As a result, all girls were buried under the de­bris. On receiving information, Rescue-1122 vehicles reached the spot and started rescue op­eration. They pulled the injured from under the debris and shift­ed them to Lahore General Hos­pital. The injured were identified as Sadia Babar (18), Aalia Babar (13) and Amina Pervez. In an­other incident, six persons were sleeping in a house when roof the house collapsed. As a result, all persons were buried under the debris. The rescuers reached the spot and started an operation. They pulled the injured from un­der debris. Two of them namely Afzal Malik (45), Sonia Afzal (35) were shifted to Mayo Hospital while remaining four people in­cluding Ghulam Abbas (36), Ta­nia Abbas (30), Kaneez Fatima (7) and Dua Fatima (4) were giv­en the first aid on the spot.

On Friday, authorities said the death toll from two weeks of monsoon rains had risen to at least 55, following the death of 12 people, including eight chil­dren, in weather-related inci­dents amid fears of flash floods.

ALL MACHINERY ACTIVATED IN LAHORE TO DRAIN OUT RAINWATER

Local Government & Community Development Secretary Dr Irshad Ahmad has said that monsoon rains are occurring in various dis­tricts of Punjab and the depart­ment has activated its machinery for on-time water drainage. He was chairing a video-link meet­ing with the chief officers regard­ing the arrangements made for monsoon rains on Saturday. He noted that the department had taken proactive measures by mo­bilising its complete machinery for efficient drainage operations. 

Across all divisions, including Lahore, a total of 1,245 dewater­ing sets have actively been func­tioning. In addition, there are 1,081 tractors, 671 trolleys and 115 jetting machines deployed in the field, he added. Further­more, 129 sucker machines and 472 fog machines are actively involved in the drainage opera­tions, while 1,044 spray pumps have been fully activated to tack­le heavy rainfall. It is essential to utilise all available resources ef­fectively to drain out water from low-lying areas, he stressed. Re­garding drainage arrangements, Dr Irshad said that the local gov­ernments had taken timely ac­tion to clean the drains and re­pair any damaged machinery. These preparations would now play a crucial role in managing the monsoon rains. The chief of­ficers should maintain a close li­aison with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority and the district administration to effec­tively address any emergencies that may arise, he concluded.

‘COMPLETING ARRANGEMENTS TO DEAL WITH FLOODS’

Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman Saturday direct­ed the authorities concerned to complete all arrangements for dealing with the possible floods.

He said that implementation of the flood emergency plan in the districts is the responsibili­ty of the administration and no negligence would be tolerated in this regard. He gave this in­struction while presiding over a meeting here at the Civil Sec­retariat. The meeting reviewed preparedness to cope with pos­sible floods and urban flooding due to monsoon rains. The chief secretary ordered the officials to fully monitor the water flow in the river Chenab and its associ­ated nullahs. He asked the depu­ty commissioners to personally inspect the embankments along with the officers of the Irrigation Department and deploy teams of health and livestock departments in the areas likely to be affected by floods. The chief secretary em­phasized that the administration, police and relevant departments should work as a team to effec­tively deal with natural calami­ties like floods. He issued instruc­tions to the Director General of Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to visit Sialkot, Wazirabad and Dera Ghazi Khan to review on-ground situation.

He said that special measures should be in place to drain rain­water from low-lying areas during downpour and all ma­chinery and dewatering pumps should be kept functional at the full capacity. He added that cleaning of drains and sewage lines should be continued regu­larly to prevent urban flooding. He also appreciated the work of WASA and district adminis­tration for drainage during the recent rains in Lahore. The sec­retaries of departments of irri­gation, and housing and the DG PDMA gave briefing at the meet­ing. The secretary irrigation said that last year hill torrents badly damaged the infrastruc­ture of irrigation department in DG Khan. He said that the con­struction and repair work of 32 structures had been completed. 

The DG PDMA said that at pres­ent the water flow in all the riv­ers is normal. However, there is a risk of flooding in Ravi and Chen­ab rivers if India released water, he added. The meeting was at­tended by the senior member board of revenue, secretary lo­cal government department and officers concerned while all the divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners partici­pated through video link.

RIVER KABUL CONTINUES TO FLOW IN LOW FLOOD: FFC

The Federal Flood Commission (FFC) has said that river Kabul continues to run in low flood while all major rivers of the country are presently flowing normal. According to daily FFC report on Saturday at present combined live storage of three major reservoirs show healthy position (59.52% of total 13.443 MAF as against 16.33% last year). Flood Forecasting Divi­sion (FFD) Lahore predicted high to very high-level flooding in River Chenab and associated Nullahs of rivers Ravi and Chen­ab during Sunday and Monday. 

Flash flooding in the hill tor­rents of D.G. Khan Division and local Nullahs of Northern Ba­lochistan is also likely in next 48 hours. Deep trough of west­erly wave continues to prevail over Northern parts of Pakistan whereas Seasonal Low lies over Balochistan. Moderate to strong monsoon currents from Bay of Bengal and light to moderate monsoon currents from Arabian Sea are penetrating into the up­per parts of Pakistan upto 10,000 feet as a consequence of upper air cyclonic circulation which pres­ently is prevailing over North­western Madhya Pradesh (India).

Widespread wind thunder­storm/rain with heavy falls at scattered places and very heavy falls at isolated places over Gu­jranwala & Lahore Divisions (Punjab) including over the up­per catchments of rivers Chen­ab, Ravi & Sutlej is expected in next 24 hours. Scattered wind thunderstorm rain of moderate intensity with isolated heavy falls over rest of the Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Kalat, Naseerabad, Loralai, Sibbi & Zhob Divisions of Ba­lochistan is also expected be­sides over upper catchments of rivers Indus and Jhelum.