ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has left for Riyadh today, Tuesday, his office said, to attend the One Water Summit from Dec. 3-4, a joint initiative of Saudi Arabia, France, Kazakhstan and the World Bank.
The summit aims for high-level political commitments to promote global cooperation and a coherent international approach toward water resource management.
“The Prime Minister will address the summit on the restoration, protection and innovation of clean water resources,” Sharif’s office said about his expected keynote speech. “The Prime Minister will highlight the steps taken by Pakistan to protect water resources, prepare for climate change, improve drinking water quality, provide employment and protect aquatic life.”
Sharif will also use the platform to highlight the importance of international cooperation to overcome the impact of climate change on water resources and aquatic life due to floods, untimely changes in weather and rising temperatures.
“He will also call for meaningful international collaboration for sustainable water resource management.”
Sharif is also expected to hold bilateral meetings and engagements on the forum’s sidelines.
The summit is being held on the margins of the next high-level session of the sixteenth session of COP16 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). It aims to contribute to ongoing United Nations discussions and processes to enhance global water governance, accelerate action on SDG6 on water and sanitation, and build on the momentum of the UN Water Conference in 2023.
The forum will also act as an incubator for solutions in preparation for the next UN Water Conference in 2026, and integrate its agenda into the other existing water processes and initiatives such as the World Water Forum, the Dushanbe Conference and the World Water Week.
“The One Water Summit’s ambition is to scale-up projects by stimulating partnerships between states, international organizations, local authorities, development and private banks, businesses, philanthropies, scientific experts, NGOs and civil society, in line with previous One Planet Summits,” the forum’s website said.
Pakistani PM in Riyadh to attend One Water Summit
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Pakistani PM in Riyadh to attend One Water Summit
- Summit is a joint initiative of Saudi Arabia, France, Kazakhstan and the World Bank
- Sharif expected to hold bilateral meetings and engagements on forum’s sidelines
Security forces kill four militants in Pakistan’s volatile southwest, military says
- Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency
- The Balochistan government has recently established a threat assessment center to strengthen early warning, prevent ‘terrorism’ incidents
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces gunned down four militants in an intelligence-based operation in the southwestern Balochistan province, the military said on Tuesday.
The operation was conducted in Balochistan’s Kalat district on reports about the presence of militants, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
The “Indian-sponsored militants” were killed in an exchange of fire during the operation, while weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the deceased, who remained actively involved in numerous militant activities.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored terrorist found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.
There was no immediate response from New Delhi to the statement.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency involving Baloch separatist groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).
Pakistan accuses India of supporting these separatist militant groups and describes them as “Fitna Al-Hindustan.” New Delhi denies the allegation.
The government in Balochistan has also established a state-of-the-art threat assessment center to strengthen early warning and prevention against “terrorism” incidents, a senior official said this week.
“Information that was once scattered is now shared and acted upon in time, allowing the state to move from reacting after incidents to preventing them before they occur,” Balochistan Additional Chief Secretary Hamza Shafqaat wrote on X.
The development follows a steep rise in militancy-related deaths in Pakistan in 2025. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) last month, combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387.
These included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the think tank said.
