Perth: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday urged the Commonwealth countries to be more relevant to the needs of its member by being more resilient. Gilani was speaking at the second Executive Session of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II earlier this day here, at Perth Exhibition and Convention Centre.
He said Pakistan was a courageous nation with unmatched resolve.
The prime minister said that building a resilient Commonwealth was necessary to get to grip with numerous challenges faced by the member states.
Gilani mentioned the series of natural calamities the countries faced in the recent past and said challenges had become local and global at the same time.
The Prime Minister recalled the earthquake of Oct 2005 that killed over 80,000 people, the devastating floods of last summers and this year, that displaced over 20 million and rendered huge losses accumulating to over US 12 billion dollars.
Gilani informed the participants about the country’s unprecedented loss of over 35,000 precious lives, and economic losses running close to US 70 billion dollars due to the ongoing war against extremism and terrorism.
“Despite all these enormous challenges, our courageous nation stands united and steadfast, demonstrating unparallel attributes of national resilience and resolve,” Gilani said.
“Pakistani nation can, therefore, rightly take pride in its resilience with which it has sustained through the crises,” he said.
However he pointed that resilience enervates and drains, if put under frequent strains, and with no hope for normality in sight.
“Whether it is climate change or terrorism, it is disease or food security, we need each other not only for addressing our present challenges, but also to ensure a better future for posterity,” Gilani said.
He assured the 54-member body that the government and people of Pakistan fully support the building of a resilient Commonwealth.
He said over the span of next two days, the leaders need to take up this challenge how to achieve this shared objective through formal and informal interaction.
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