Pakistan’s Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has called for “climate diplomacy” with India to address the severe smog crisis that impacts both nations, particularly during the winter months when pollution levels soar. Sharif emphasized the need for cross-border coordination to reduce toxic smog, which is often carried across the border by winds.
“We should engage in climate diplomacy with India to address this shared environmental challenge,” Sharif said, stressing the urgency of joint action to curb pollution levels that threaten public health in both countries.
Relations between India and Pakistan have remained largely frozen since they downgraded diplomatic ties in 2019, but Sharif urged both nations to set aside political tensions for the sake of the environment. Lahore in Pakistan and Delhi in India, two of the world’s most polluted cities, face an annual spike in air pollution as cooler temperatures trap smog near the ground, leading to a surge in respiratory illnesses.
A report published last year highlighted that rising air pollution could reduce life expectancy in South Asia by more than five years per person, underscoring the critical health risks of hazardous air quality in the region.
Meanwhile, India’s foreign minister is scheduled to visit Pakistan next week for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, marking the first such visit in nearly a decade. However, India has ruled out bilateral discussions during the visit, focusing instead on multilateral cooperation through the SCO framework.
Sharif’s call for climate diplomacy comes at a time when environmental concerns are increasingly linked to broader geopolitical issues, and her push for dialogue reflects growing awareness of the need for regional cooperation in tackling climate-related challenges.
