The US State Department stated on Thursday that Washington is looking forward to working with Islamabad in regards to climate change on different levels.
The state department made an announcement earlier in the day that Special Presidential Envoy for climate John Kerry would go to Abu Dhabi, New Delhi, and Dhaka from April 1 to 9 for consultations on the matter. The schedule, however, does not include Islamabad.
The United Nations will hold the other event, the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP-26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change later this year, and Pakistan, as a UN member, will be invited to this event.
“The United States seeks to engage all countries to explore areas for cooperation on addressing the climate crisis, including Pakistan,” a spokesperson for the State Department told media officials when asked why Pakistan was being ignored on such a sensitive issue.
“The Leaders Summit on Climate is only one of several major climate-related events in the run-up to COP-26, which will be a global event,” said the official while explaining why Pakistan was not invited to President Biden’s summit.
“We look forward to working with the government of Pakistan and governments around the world to raise the level of global ambition to meet the climate challenge,” the official added.