Pakistan's Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif told the UN General Assembly on Friday that with the world gripped by daunting challenges, from conflict to terrorism and climate change, "we feel the chill of a new Cold War."
He expressed "searing pain and anguish" over the plight of the people in Gaza, stating, "our hearts bleed as we witness the tragedy unfolding in the Holy Land, a tragedy that shakes the very conscience of humanity."
"Can we, as human beings, remain silent while children lie buried under the rubble of their shattered homes?ِ Can we turn a blind eye to the mothers, cradling the lifeless bodies of their children?ِ" he asked, stressing that this is not just a conflict but a "systematic slaughter of innocent people".
He emphasised that it is not enough to condemn the conflict, but rather there must be immediate action towards a two-State solution based on pre-1967 borders and full membership at the UN for Palestine.
Without such a solution, "[the current conflict] threatens to drag the entire Middle East into a war, whose consequences could be grave and beyond imagination".
The Prime Minister of Pakistan likens the plight of the people of Palestine to those in Jammu and Kashmir where they have "struggled for a century for their freedom and right to self-determination".
He underscored that since 5 August 2019, India has initiated "unilateral illegal steps to impose what its leaders ominously call a 'Final Solution' for Jammu and Kashmir" with 900,000 Indian troops terrorising the people there through prolonged curfews, extra-judicial killings and the abduction of thousands of young Kahmiris.
In reaction to "massive expansion of its military capabilities which are essentially deployed against Pakistan", he asserted that "Pakistan will respond most decisively to any Indian aggression."
Turning to the increasing impacts of climate change, the Prime Minister said that while his country emits less than one per cent of carbon globally, it had to pay a very heavy price, including the $30 billion in damages from catastrophic floods two years ago.
"We must uphold the axiom: the polluter pays!" he declared.
Additionally, nearly 100 developing countries are "trapped in a vicious cycle of debt and liquidity crisis", he said, naming it a "death trap" and recalling the Secretary-General's description of the international financial architecture as "morally bankrupt".
"The world trade and technology regimes must be reformed and aligned to promote development and global equity," he said.
"We must carry with us a message for our people that the weak are not voiceless, that the oppressed should not lose hope, that poverty is not preordained and that the Almighty's promise of justice and equality in our only terrestrial home must be respected!" he concluded.
