Thursday, 28 March 2024, 06:48:51 pm

FM stresses need to strengthen multilateralism to address global challenges
November 25, 2021

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has stressed the need to strengthen multilateralism to address global challenges.

He was virtually addressing the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting on strengthening multilateralism for shared growth being hosted by Cambodia today [Thursday].

The Foreign Minister said threats posed by pandemics, climate change, poverty alleviation, terrorism, migration from conflict zones, civil strife, transnational organized crime, security of trade routes, cybercrimes, and abuse of social media are core common issues.

Terming the conflict prevention and resolution as a shared objective, he said sustainable peace can only be achieved by collective and coordinated action.

He said the Covid-19 pandemic and its multidimensional health and socio-economic consequences have proved that such intertwined problems cannot be addressed by countries acting alone.

The Foreign Minister said we must address the root causes of conflicts, especially longstanding unresolved disputes including Palestine and Kashmir that continue to threaten international peace and security.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi also urged the international community not to abandon Afghanistan at this critical point.

He said a humanitarian crisis and economic collapse in Afghanistan will have enormous consequences for the rest of the world. He said the international community must remain positively engaged to avert a crisis and to advance shared objectives of peace, security, development and connectivity.