Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka from November 15 to 17, 2013 to take part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM 2013). Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said during the weekly press briefing on Wednesday that due to importance it attaches to the Commonwealth, Pakistan is participating in the Commonwealth Summit at the level of the prime minister.
Pakistan has cordial relations with Sri Lanka, he said, adding that Pakistan believes that its participation in the summit will further cement friendly ties between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The summit has an important agenda. The prime minister will address the summit on the issues of growth with equity, post-2015 global development, climate change financing, and youth development.
In Colombo, the prime minister will meet Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka. The prime minister will also meet other world leaders on the sidelines of the summit including prime ministers of Australia, Malta and New Zealand. The CHOGM is a biennial event wherein Commonwealth Heads of Government meet to discuss global and commonwealth issues. The CHOGM 2013 has a special theme: "Growth with Equity - Inclusive Development".
Many other events like Commonwealth Business Forum, Commonwealth People's Forum, and Commonwealth Youth Forum are being held in conjunction with the CHOGM 2013. The spokesman further said that Pakistan is one of the eight founding members of the commonwealth, and is steadily enhancing its relations with the commonwealth countries. He said that the commonwealth has made notable progress in various areas of its activities. It has forged collaboration with the host of international organisations including UN, and has taken important positions on issues of global concern including economic issues, health, environment, and climate change, he added.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has forwarded a proposal for establishment of a Commonwealth Reserve Fund. According to the foreign office spokesman, Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani, representing Pakistan at the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting being held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, ahead of the Commonwealth Summit, proposed the establishment of a Commonwealth Reserve Fund to assist member states facing socio-economic vulnerabilities, lack of access to financing for development, high and escalating debt burden and natural disasters.
The proposed fund, for which a detailed concept paper would be submitted to the Commonwealth Secretariat, could serve to enhancing co-operation for developing, inter alia, a mechanism for early forecasting of financial crisis and guide the countries to take precautionary and timely measures. Dwelling on the theme of the Commonwealth Summit, "Growth with Equity; Inclusive Development", Jilani informed the meeting about the formulation of Vision 2025 - Pakistan's long term development programme, which aims at creating a globally competitive and prosperous country providing a high quality of life for all its citizens.