PM Shehbaz Reaffirms Pakistan’s Support for China’s Global Development Initiative
- The prime minister said the GDI could strengthen cooperation among developing countries and help deliver practical results.
- He linked Pakistan’s participation to its economic plans and the second phase of CPEC.
- Shehbaz called for stronger international cooperation as progress towards the 2030 development goals remains slow.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for China’s Global Development Initiative (GDI), describing it as a platform for cooperation among developing countries.
Speaking at a high-level GDI meeting hosted by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly session in New York, the prime minister said the initiative had already delivered practical benefits through cooperation between participating countries.
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Shehbaz said Chinese President Xi Jinping had proposed the GDI during the COVID-19 pandemic, when coordinated action on development was urgently needed. He said its goals aligned with Pakistan’s economic transformation plans.
The prime minister said Pakistan’s partnership with China also continued through the Belt and Road Initiative and its flagship China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which was entering its second phase. Pakistan was ready to expand successful projects and identify new areas of cooperation under the GDI as the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals approached, he added.
Shehbaz warned that progress towards those goals remained slow. A widening development financing gap, more frequent climate disasters, higher food and fuel prices, and geopolitical tensions were eroding gains made by developing countries, he said.
He called for stronger cooperation among nations to address those pressures and said the GDI could help accelerate work on the 2030 Agenda. He also backed a global governance system that gives greater weight to the priorities of developing countries.
Referring to the UN Secretary-General’s UN80 initiative, the prime minister said it should strengthen the organisation’s development work and its ability to deliver results on the ground. He said Pakistan would continue working with China and other members of the Group of Friends of the GDI.
