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The US president had last month invited 40 world leaders, including those from India, China and Bangladesh, to the summit. It was understood at the time that Pakistan had been skipped from the conference despite being one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change.
However, Aslam on Monday confirmed that he had been invited to participate in the summit, saying permission will be sought from Prime Minister Imran Khan to attend it tomorrow.
In a letter dated April 17, addressed to Aslam, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said: “On behalf of the President of the United States, it is my pleasure to invite you to be a distinguished speaker at the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate. We would like to ask you to join other ministers and leaders on April 22 in a discussion focused on climate adaptation and resilience.”
Biden ignored Pakistan at his government’s first summit on climate-change to be held on April 22 and 23. The US president has invited 40 heads of state and government, including leaders of India, Bangladesh and Bhutan – from the South Asian region.
Reacting to the country’s exclusion, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said that he was puzzled at the cacophony over Pakistan not being invited by the US to the climate summit.
“My govt’s environment policies are driven solely by our commitment to our future generations of a clean & green Pakistan to mitigate the impact of climate change,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle.
I am puzzled at the cacophony over Pak not being invited to a climate change conf! My govt’s environment policies are driven solely by our commitment to our future generations of a clean & green Pakistan to mitigate the impact of climate change.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 3, 2021
