ISLAMABAD: The outgoing US ambassador to Pakistan, David Hale, met with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday.
Qureshi underscored the importance of longstanding relations with the US and said he looks forward to welcoming Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Pompeo is scheduled to visit Islamabad in the first week of September to meet with Khan.
Qureshi told Hale “that his interactions with the US leadership would be based on honesty and sincerity so as to develop a sustained partnership in the interest of both countries,” the statement said.
He thanked Hale for his services in Pakistan and congratulated him on in his next assignment as undersecretary for political affairs at the State Department.
“Ambassador Hale thanked the Foreign Minister and said that there was great interest in the Prime Minister’s reform agenda in the United States, a readiness to turn the page, and this was the objective of Secretary Pompeo’s visit to Pakistan,” the statement said.
“Ambassador Hale acknowledged (the) Foreign Minister’s role in shepherding bilateral relations in his earlier tenure and thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the cordiality and cooperation extended to him during his assignment in Pakistan.”
Bajwa thanked Hale for his services in Pakistan and acknowledged his contributions toward bilateral relations, said the Pakistani military’s media wing, adding that Hale thanked Bajwa for the Pakistani Army’s contributions to regional peace and stability.
Outgoing US envoy meets with PM, FM, army chief
Outgoing US envoy meets with PM, FM, army chief
- Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi underscored the importance of longstanding relations with the US and said he looks forward to welcoming Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Islamabad
- Pompeo is scheduled to visit Islamabad in the first week of September to meet with Khan
At ECO meeting, Pakistan proposes ‘Regional Innovation Hub’ to curb natural disasters
- Pakistan hosts high-level 10th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction in Islamabad
- Innovation hub to focus on early warning technologies, risk informed infrastructure planning
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has proposed to set up a “Regional Innovation Hub on Disaster Risk Reduction” that focuses on early warning technologies and risk informed infrastructure planning, the Press Information Department (PID) said on Wednesday, as Islamabad hosts a high-level meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).
The ECO’s 10th Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is being held from Jan. 21-22 at the headquarters of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Pakistan’s capital.
The high-level regional forum brings together ministers, and senior officials from ECO member states, representatives of the ECO Secretariat and regional and international partner organizations. The event is aimed to strengthen collective efforts toward enhancing disaster resilience across the ECO region, the PID said.
“Key agenda items include regional cooperation on early warning systems, disaster risk information management, landslide hazard zoning, inclusive disaster preparedness initiatives, and Pakistan’s proposal to establish a Regional Innovation Hub on Disaster Risk Reduction, focusing on early warning technologies, satellite data utilization, and risk-informed infrastructure planning,” the statement said.
The meeting was attended by delegations from ECO member states including Pakistan, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Representatives of regional and international organizations and development partners were also in attendance.
Discussions focused on enhancing regional coordination, harmonizing disaster risk reduction frameworks, and strengthening collective preparedness against transboundary and climate-induced hazards impacting the ECO region, the PID said.
ECO members states such as Pakistan, Türkiye, Afghanistan and others have faced natural calamities such as floods and earthquakes in recent years that have killed tens of thousands of people.
Heavy rains triggered catastrophic floods in Pakistan in 2022 and 2025 that killed thousands of people and caused damages to critical infrastructure, inflicting losses worth billions of dollars.
Islamabad has since then called on regional countries to join hands to cooperate to avert future climate disasters and promote early warning systems to avoid calamities in future.
