Children enjoying camel ride during the 1st day of Eid Ul Azha near Railway Station
Butchers cutting sacrificial animal meat after slaughtering on the 2nd day of Eid ul Adha
Principal Khubaib Girl School & College, Sarwat Ansar distributing meat among the deserving people donated by Zakaat Foundation America at Khubaib Girls School & College on the 2nd day of Eid-ul-Adha
A farmer extracting rice crop seedlings in their farm field at Moza Boori
People sacrificing animal on the 2nd day of Eid-ul-Adha
Butchers slaughtering sacrificial animal on the 2nd day of Eid ul Azha
President strongly condemns desecration of Holy Quran in Sweden; urges measures for prevention of Islamophobic acts
ISLAMABAD, June 30 (APP): President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday strongly condemned the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden and said the painful incident had deeply hurt the sentiments of billions of Muslims.
On his Twitter handle, the president said that every state must take measures for the prevention of such Islamophobic acts.
“I urge the international community to work for promoting inter-faith harmony and dialogue to create tolerance for each other’s religious beliefs and values,” he added in a related tweet.
The president stressed that humanity must move away from acts of senseless hatred towards uniting the world in peace.
Xi to deliver important speech at SCO Council of Heads of State meeting: Mao Ning
BEIJING, June 30 (APP): China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s attendance at the 23rd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) via video link would further strengthen cooperation to counter heightened geopolitical confrontations.
President Xi will deliver important remarks at the meeting and, together with other participating leaders, chart the course for the future growth of the organization. With the concerted efforts of all sides, the SCO will achieve greater progress and boost development and prosperity in regional countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
The spokesperson also outlined China’s expectations for the upcoming summit, saying that in a world marked by change and disorder and fraught with increasing instability, uncertainties and unpredictable factors, regional countries as well as other members of the international community are looking to the SCO to play a bigger role in safeguarding regional security and promoting common development.
As a founding member, China views the SCO as a priority in its foreign affairs. We stand ready to work with other members to act on the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, build an even closer SCO community with a shared future, and usher in a brighter future for the Eurasian continent, said Mao.
India is the chair nation of this year’s summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State, and its external affairs ministry said on Tuesday that heads of state of all members were invited. Defense and foreign ministers from member states attended in-person meetings in India earlier this year.
The upcoming SCO summit is to be held as Iran becomes the newest member of the SCO, which marks the SCO coordination mechanism ushering in a new development phase, Zhao Huirong, an Eastern European studies expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
Iran’s ambassador to India Iraj Elahi said in March that the process of Iran acquiring membership in the SCO will be completed at the upcoming summit in India, according to Indian media reports.
In September 2021, the 21st summit of the SCO leaders held in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe announced the decision to start admitting Iran as a full member of the organization. Belarus, another observer country, is reportedly set to start the process of becoming a member of the SCO during the meeting.
The SCO, guided by the Shanghai Spirit, has continuously consolidated good neighbourliness and political mutual trust between member states and played an important and constructive role in international and regional affairs, analysts said, expressing expectations that the upcoming SCO meeting will inject impetus into regional development amid increasing threats.
The Eurasian region has recently faced a severe security deficit after the Russia-Ukraine conflict began in 2022 with increasing threats to traditional and non-traditional security fields. For example, the heightened confrontation between Russia and the US has intensified geopolitical competition, terrorism remains active in the region, and climate change and food issues concern regional countries.
All these topics will be discussed during the summit, Cui Heng, a lecturer at the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization training base for international judicial exchanges and cooperation, told the Global Times on Friday.
How to ensure efficiency within the SCO as its membership grows will also be a topic that may be discussed by the member states, Cui said.
Zhao noted that SCO member countries will push forward cooperation in four major fields – security, economic development, people-to-people exchanges, and political cooperation. Member states have reached a consensus on fighting terrorism, extremism and separatism and will further promote pragmatic cooperation in the field.
They will also pay attention to food, energy security, the stability of supply chains and facilitation of trade, said Zhao, noting that some new documents in the above fields are expected to be made during the meeting.
The Shanghai Spirit, which undergirds values and guidelines for the SCO, featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations, and pursuit of common development, is consistent with the pursuits of new developing countries and has been well-accepted by them.
The SCO coordination mechanism has brought concrete benefits to member states and observer states and through cooperation on security and other fields, countries can find consensus and shared interests to avoid misunderstanding or escalation of conflicts, which is conducive to regional peace and stability, said Zhao.
Pakistani youth leader calls for int’l efforts to address climate change
BEIJING, , Jun 30 (APP):A Pakistani youth, who attended the just concluded 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC) – also known as the Summer Davos Forum, has called for international efforts to address the issue of climate change.
“It’s my first visit to China. I hope to leverage this opportunity to do something for my country Pakistan and its lovely people,” Muhammad Hassan Dajana, a Climate Action and Advocacy Professional from Pakistan, told China Economic Net (CEN).
This year’s Summer Davos Forum – scheduled from June 27 to 29 – gathered over 1,500 global leaders from business, government, civil society and international organizations as well as from among innovators and academics, at a crucial time for global economic recovery. Energy transition and materials supply, conservation of nature and climate were among the six major topics of the event.
“I am extremely happy to be selected by the Global Shapers Community – an initiative of the World Economic Forum – to participate in the AMNC as a delegate representing the Rawalpindi Hub from Pakistan,” Dajana noted.
The AMNC 2023 facilitated dialogue and cooperation among policy-makers, business, technology pioneers, entrepreneurs and innovators to address the world’s most pressing challenges, including the climate, cost of living, energy and food crises.
As the co-Founder of Urban Sustainability Startup Green Squad and also the Programme Manager of Amal Academy, Dajana told CEN that the theme “Safeguarding Nature and Climate” was of particular relevance to his work.
“Pakistan is responsible for less than 1% of the world’s planet-warming gases, yet it is one of the top ten most vulnerable nations to the climate crisis,” he highlighted and proposed joint efforts to address the climate issue.
“The first thing is accountability. The world should join hands to increase green climate finance for relevant equipment; secondly, our adaptation and resilience. I think we have wonderful support from China as a wonderful leader; the third is that we need to plan better. We need collaborative networking with the rest of the world, using COP 15 and other mechanisms to do something about it.”
Dajana said with prior experiences in the United States and Europe, he looked forward to seeing what the East could offer.
He said the world was standing at a very crucial stage that multilateral globalism was being converted into unilateral polarization. However, “this forum brings together the world to China. I look forward to connecting with colleagues working on Climate Action, especially business and industry leaders and in particular Chinese colleagues.”