ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar urged the Commonwealth to take the initiative in creating a new, fiscally responsible model for sustainable development that addresses the problems with the current debt burden.
At the 22nd Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM), which was held in London, she made the comments. The minister served as the head of the Pakistani delegation at the gathering and represented Pakistan at both the Secretary General of the Commonwealth’s reception at Buckingham Palace and the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey.
At the CFAMM, the minister of state presented Pakistan’s perspective on global and regional developments and their implications for developing countries, including Pakistan. She outlined the importance of international collaboration on climate change and the availability of significant, additional and predictable financial resources for climate adaptation and mitigation. She also called for early operationalization of the ‘Loss and Damage Fund’ and associated arrangements.
The CFAMM endorsed, inter alia, the initiative by the Board of Governors to modernize the Commonwealth, with the establishment of three working groups on reforms, administration and programme, and finance. Pakistan in its capacity as Vice Chair of the Board of Governors would be leading the Working Group on Administration and Programme.
On the sidelines of Commonwealth events, the minister of state met British Minister of State for Development Andrew Mitchell, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka M U M Ali Sabry, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs of Kenya Dr Alfred Mutua, Canadian Parliamentary Secretary to the Foreign Minister MP Robert Oliphant, and Secretary General Commonwealth Patricia Scotland.
