Ambassador Aamir Khan, Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, delivered National Statement on Agenda Item 89: “Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency” in the Plenary of the 77th Session of the UNGA today in the General Assembly, United Nations.
He appreciated IAEA’s annual report for 2021 and the efforts put in by the Agency and Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi to promote the goal of advancing peaceful sources of energy for sustainable development and building resilient economies.
Ambassador Aamir Khan, Deputy Permanent Representative said while appreciating the report that it “gives a useful snapshot of its activities that in addition to covering of the increasing urgent issue of climate change focus on other key issues, such as, transfer of nuclear technologies for peaceful applications, nuclear safety and security and nuclear verification and non-proliferation efforts worldwide”.
As a founding member of the IAEA, Ambassador Aamir Khan mentioned, Pakistan’s ardent supports the Agency’s role in promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear technology in accordance with its motto “Atom for Peace and Development”.
“Harnessing nuclear technology is a priority for Pakistan for the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals and addressing poverty”: he said.
“Today, we are using nuclear technologies and applications in Pakistan in diverse fields, such as, power generation, health, agriculture, industry and environmental protection” he added.
“We view nuclear energy as a reliable, consistent and carbon free source of electricity generation” he said, mentioning Pakistan’s efforts to expand nuclear power generation and to increase its share in the national energy mix driven by the fact that Pakistan is not only an energy deficient country, but also one of the most vulnerable countries to the impact of climate change.
“The recent debilitating effects of climate change—which are being felt strongly by my own country in the wake of the recent unprecedented floods—have heightened vulnerabilities of other countries and people around the globe.”: he said.
“The ongoing catastrophic floods in Pakistan showed an urgent need of global action to curb Green House Gas (GHG) emission. One third of our country remains under water and 33 million people are in tatters, with losses and damages amounting to a tenth of the GDP of the country” he said.
“Such global issues require global solutions, close and unrestricted cooperation. In fact, access to nuclear power is the need of the hour”: he insisted.
“In Pakistan, we are taking steps to limit our GHG emissions. Pakistan’s National energy mix is consistently re-evaluated. With the coming on line of the sixth operating nuclear reactor, the actual contribution of nuclear in the energy mix has increased to about 15%. Karachi Nuclear Power Plant K-3, this year has increased our nuclear power generation capacity to 3,530 MW. Pakistan has been one of the leading partners of IAEA’s Technical Cooperation programme for a number of years” he added.
“The IAEA’s role as the world’s focal point in promoting peaceful uses of nuclear energy assumes greater significance in view of diverse challenges of environment and proliferation and can make a significant contribution in meeting the needs and challenges of the 21st century by ensuring equitable access to nuclear materials, technology and equipment for peaceful purposes”: he further said.
Considering nuclear safety and security as a National responsibility, he further mentioned that, “Pakistan has developed a comprehensive nuclear safety and security regime, which is regularly reviewed and updated in the light of the IAEA guidance documents and international best practices”.