BAKU: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that the government of Pakistan was taking all possible steps to ensure the security of Chinese nationals.

The prime minister met with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on the sidelines of the Climate Action Summit of COP-29 and highlighted the steps taken by the government for the security of the Chinese nationals in Pakistan. Both leaders also discussed the bilateral cooperation.

PM Shehbaz also highlighted the steps taken by the government to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism and reiterated that the government was committed to root out terrorism from the country.

Referring to the recent visit of the Chinese premier to Pakistan, Shehbaz said that China was a long-standing friend of Pakistan and a new era of strengthening relations between the two countries had begun.

The Chinese vice premier expressed his desire to work with Pakistan to overcome security challenges and further expand Pak-China cooperation for the development and prosperity of the peoples of the two countries.

Meanwhile, addressing the High-Level Segment of the “World Leaders’ Climate Action Summit” of the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), the prime minister, while sensitising the global community on the risks posed by climate change and the vulnerabilities of developing countries, called for grant-based climate finance that should not add to the debt burden of the developing nations.

He called for fulfilling the pledges of COP27 and COP28 as well as those made in Paris 10 years ago.

He viewed that the COP29 would help understand the calamities already faced by some of the countries and others might face if counter-measures were not taken to create a conducive environment to avert calamities.

Highlighting the devastation faced by the people of Pakistan caused by the climate change-induced floods in 2022, he recalled his interaction with a boy Ikramullah in the flood-hit Balochistan who had lost everything to the calamity including his home, school, and entire village.

Shehbaz told the summit that his government had taken concrete actions to deliver on its commitment to producing 60 percent of all energy from clean sources and shifting 30 percent of vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs) by the end of this decade. At the same time, Pakistan is going through a renewable energy revolution, he said and also mentioned the presentation of a comprehensive National Adaptation Plan last year and the National Carbon Market Framework this year.