To deal with the issue of pollution in India and Pakistan during winters when several regions in both the countries face acute problem of smog, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province, has advocated for “climate diplomacy” between the two neighbors.
Interestingly, Maryam Sharif’s call for climate diplomacy with India comes just ahead of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to Pakistan, who is scheduled to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, to be held in Pakistan next week.
She, according to reports, said there should be talks between the two countries to deal with the issue, particularly as winter approaches and pollution levels rise in the region.
“We should talk to them; this is called climate diplomacy. We should do it with India,” Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was quoted as saying.
The Pakistani leader stressed the necessity for coordinated efforts to mitigate toxic smog, which can travel across the border due to winds.
She also talked about the rise in respiratory ailments during the cooler months.
As temperatures drop, the pollutants remain near the ground due to temperature inversion, leading to increase in air pollution levels.
Lahore and Delhi are some of the most affected cities and consistently rank among the top polluted places globally.
The development marks the first official visit of its kind from India in nearly a decade.
However, India has already clarified that discussions on bilateral ties would not take place during his visit.
The diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan have remains strained, particularly since the two nations downgraded their diplomatic ties in 2019.
India, time and again, has made it clear that terrorism and dialogue cannot go hand-in-hand, and Pakistan, in case it wants good ties with India, will have to stop terror activities.
Pakistan has been facing acute economic crisis for the years now, and voice within the country is growing with passing day, that it must improve relations with India, which can actually help it come out of the mess.
On social media platforms, people of Pakistan could be seen and heard requesting their leadership to improve the relations with India as they face hardships in day-today life in view of the increased prices of essentials that could have been imported from India had there been no issues between the two nations.