ISLAMABAD: Moving ahead with his ‘Mission Summit 14’, Pakistani climber Sirbaz Khan left the country on Monday to summit the 8,167-meter-high Dhaulagiri mountain, the world’s seventh highest peak, located in Nepal.
Born and raised in Ali Abad village in Pakistan’s mountainous Hunza district, Khan has already summited eight out of 14 of the highest peaks in the world, including Mount Everest.
He is the only Pakistani other than legendary climber Muhammad Ali Sadpara — killed during a K2 winter expedition this year — to have summited eight of the world’s highest peaks. K2, at 8,611 meters, is the world’s second highest and most deadly peak, often referred to as the ‘Savage Mountain.’
“I am associated with climbing for the last four years. I have summited eight peaks that stand above 8,000 meters,” Khan told Arab News on Saturday. “This expedition [of Mount Dhaulagiri] is my ninth.”
If Khan succeeds in his ascent of Dhaulagiri mountain, he will be the first Pakistani ever to have summited nine of the highest peaks in the world.
This year Khan also summited Mount Everest and Annapurna in Nepal, and Gasherbrum-II in Pakistan.
While announcing his expedition plan last week, Khan said his ‘Mission Summit 14’ was not just about getting his name into the record books but would be a matter of “pride” for his country.
“Most importantly, it is about earning respect and honor for the extraordinary yet the unsung mountaineering community of Pakistan,” he said in a Facebook post:
“When I climb on these mountains where no Pakistani has ever climbed before me, it is not just me climbing alone, it’s Pakistan climbing with me ... Each time I raise the green flag on a mountain, that piece of cloth claps in the name of respect and honor deserved by great Pakistani mountaineers – all those who came before me and those who will come after.”
Speaking to Arab News, Khan urged the Pakistani government to take steps to facilitate the nation’s mountaineers, saying there was no dearth of talent in Pakistan if only the government established mountaineering schools and offered financial support.
Speaking about his teacher Ali Sadpara, Khan said: “I know Ali Bhai since 2005. In the field of climbing, my first ever expedition of Nangaparbat was with him. He was my teacher in mountaineering and I have climbed four peaks, including K2 and Mount Manaslu, with him.”
Sadpara and his two expedition members were making their second attempt at climbing K2 this winter when they were lost.
“Now we are deprived of a legendary climber,” Khan said about Sadpara’s death.
In January this year, a team of 10 Nepali climbers made history by becoming the first to ever scale K2 in winter.
To a question about the difference between Pakistani and Nepalese climbers, Khan said Pakistani climbers were physically very strong, but technically weak as compared to the Nepalese.
“Lack of training and financial issues are the main hurdles in the way of such achievements,” he said. “That’s why no Pakistani has summited all 14 peaks.”
Ali Sadpara mentee Sirbaz Khan eyes Nepal’s Dhaulagiri peak to set new national record
https://arab.news/2m2nx
Ali Sadpara mentee Sirbaz Khan eyes Nepal’s Dhaulagiri peak to set new national record
- If Khan succeeds in summiting Dhaulagiri, he will be first Pakistani ever to climb nine of world’s 14 highest peaks
- Khan says has climbed four peaks with legendary mountaineer Ali Sadpara who died attempting this year’s K2 winter expedition
At UNSC, Pakistan warns competition for critical minerals could fuel global conflict
- The demand for critical minerals has surged worldwide due to rapid expansion of electric vehicles, advanced electronics and clean energy technologies
- Pakistan’s representative says all partnerships in critical minerals sector must be ‘cooperative and not exploitative’ and respect national ownership
ISLAMABAD: Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), has warned that intensifying global competition over critical minerals could become a new driver of global conflict, urging stronger international cooperation and equitable access to resources vital for the world’s energy transition.
The warning comes as demand for critical minerals and rare earth elements surges worldwide due to the rapid expansion of electric vehicles, advanced electronics and clean energy technologies, with governments and companies increasingly competing to secure supply chains while raising concerns that this may lead to geopolitical rivalries in the coming years.
Speaking at a Security Council briefing on ‘Energy, Critical Minerals, and Security,’ Ahmad said experience showed that the risks of instability increased where mineral wealth intersected with weak governance, entrenched poverty and external interference.
“Access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy is essential for development, stability and prosperity. The global transition toward renewable energy, electric mobility, battery storage and digital infrastructure has sharply increased the demand for critical minerals,” he said.
“This upsurge has generated new geopolitical and geo-economic pressures. If not managed responsibly, competition over natural resources can affect supply chains, aggravate tensions, undermine sovereignty and contribute to instability.”
In several conflict-affected settings, he noted, illicit extraction, trafficking networks and opaque financial flows have fueled armed conflict and violence, weakened state institutions and deprived populations of legitimate revenues.
“The scramble for natural resources and its linkage to conflict and instability is therefore not new,” Ahmad told UNSC members at the briefing. “Pakistan believes that natural resources must serve as instruments of economic development and shared prosperity, and not coercion or conflict.”
He urged the world to reaffirm the right of peoples to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources, saying all partnerships in the critical minerals sector must be cooperative and not exploitative, respect national ownership, ensure transparent contractual arrangements and align with host countries’ development strategies.
“In order to prevent the exploitation of mineral-producing countries and regions, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected settings, support their capacity-building for strengthening domestic regulatory institutions, combating illicit financial flows, ensuring environmental safeguards, and promoting equitable benefit-sharing with local communities,” he asked member states.
“Promote equitable participation in global value chains. Developing countries must be enabled to move beyond extraction toward processing, refining and downstream manufacturing. Technology transfer, skills development and responsible investment are essential to avoid perpetuating structural imbalances.”
