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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged Pakistanis to take steps to preserve water resources, including glaciers, for a water-secure future of the country, his office said on Saturday, on the World Water Day.
The World Water Day is an annual United Nations (UN) observance held on March 22 each year that highlights the importance of freshwater. The day is used to advocate for sustainable management of freshwater resources across the globe.
In his message, Sharif said the day, being observed under the theme of “Glacier Preservation” this year, reminds them of the critical role glaciers play in sustaining the planet’s freshwater supplies and of the grave challenges in protecting this essential resource.
"Nearly half of the global population experiences water scarcity for at least part of the year. Billions remain without access to clean drinking water, while water pollution continues to rise at alarming levels. Our wetlands are disappearing three times faster than our forests. This is no longer a distant threat. It is a global crisis that demands immediate and collective action," Sharif was quoted as saying by his office.
"On this World Water Day, let us reaffirm our resolve to preserve our glaciers, protect our water resources, and work together for a resilient, water-secure future—for our people, our region, and our planet."
There are a total of 13,000 glaciers in Pakistan and nearly 10,000 of them are receding and expected to cause significant water disruptions, according to Pakistani authorities.
The melting of these glaciers at a fast pace and heavy untimely rains due to climate change put the South Asian country at risk of frequent floods, while at the same time, droughts pose an equally serious threat, with nearly 80 percent of Pakistan's land categorized as arid or semi-arid and 30 percent of population directly affected by drought-like conditions.
Melting glaciers contribute to rising sea levels, another cause of coastal erosion. The sea level at Karachi rose almost 8 inches (almost 20 centimeters) between 1916 and 2016, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It’s projected to rise another half-inch (about 1.3 centimeters) by 2040.
In areas near the southwestern coastal city of Gwadar, like Pishukan and Ganz, waves have swallowed up mosques, schools, and settlements. There are gashes in the cliffs at the popular picnic spot of Sunset Park and rocks have cascaded onto the shore, while beaches run flat for dozens of kilometers because no structures remain on it.
"Pakistan is among the ten countries most vulnerable to climate change. Our average temperatures are projected to rise faster than the global average," Sharif said.
"Over three-quarters of our water resources originate outside our borders. That is why Pakistan attaches great importance to transboundary water cooperation."
He said his government was working to mitigate climate-induced flood risks and reduce drought impacts through ecosystem-based adaptation, and implementing 25 priority interventions from promoting nature-based agriculture and restoring the Indus delta to curbing industrial pollution and investing in green infrastructure.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan urges the world to halt Israeli strikes on Gaza for the success of a conference in June on the two-state solution to the Palestine issue, Pakistan’s permanent mission to the United Nations (UN) said on Saturday.
The statement came days after French President Emmanuel Macron said he spoke with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the two leaders condemned the resumption of Israeli strikes on Gaza. Macron said they will co-chair a conference on a two-state solution, aimed at “helping revive a political perspective for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
The Israeli military on Wednesday resumed ground operations in central and southern Gaza, as a second day of airstrikes killed at least 48 Palestinians, according to health authorities. The renewed ground operations came a day after more than 400 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in one of the deadliest episodes since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023, shattering a ceasefire that has largely held since January.
“If we can halt Israel’s military campaign, sustain a ceasefire and end the humanitarian crisis, it would create conditions conducive to the success of the endeavor for a two-State solution at the Conference, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, next June,” the Pakistani mission quoted the country’s permanent representative, Munir Akram, as saying at the UN.
“This is an outcome that should be desired by the world and should enjoy consensus within the Security Council.”
Palestinian territory – encompassing the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem – has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Pakistan does not recognize Israel and has consistently called for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and pre-1967 borders.
“The Security Council, and the world community, cannot sit back and watch this on-going ethnic cleansing,” Akram was quoted as saying. “A failure to halt this brutal war will unleash the worst instinct of powerful and predatory states, shred the principles of the UN Charter, designed to prevent aggression and the scourge of war.”
Israel’s war on Gaza, which began after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and displaced almost all of Gaza’s 2 million population by laying waste to swathes of neighborhoods, schools and hospitals.