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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s envoy to the United Nations (UN) has stressed urgent action to ensure adequate resources for the UN response plan to meet humanitarian needs in Syria, Pakistani state media reported on Friday.

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher this week called the humanitarian situation in Syria “dire” and said aid workers need protection and safety, noting that humanitarian convoys came under fire this month.

He said money for food and other assistance is desperately needed, pointing to the UN humanitarian appeal for $3.19 billion for 2025 being only 14 percent funded.

Speaking at a UN Security Council briefing on Syria, Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador, Usman Jadoon, called for immediate humanitarian support, political inclusivity and respect for the sovereignty of Syria, the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.

“Over 16 million Syrians remain in need of humanitarian assistance,” he was quoted as saying. “It is deplorable that children continue to face hunger and malnutrition on a staggering scale, with access to safe water, health care and education collapsing.”

Syria is also grappling with deep ethnic and religious divisions following the ouster of President Bashar Assad in December, which brought an end to decades of Assad family rule. The transition has proven fragile, with renewed violence erupting in March along the coast and in July in Sweida, a city with a significant Druze population, highlighting the continued threat to peace after years of civil war.

Clashes erupted in Sweida on July 13 between Druze militias and local Bedouin tribes, and government forces intervened, nominally to restore order. Israel intervened in defense of the Druze, launching dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters.

UN envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen warned on Thursday that while violence in Sweida has largely subsided following a ceasefire, “the threat of renewed conflict is ever-present — as are the political centrifugal forces that threaten Syria’s sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity.”

“We are still seeing dangerous hostilities and skirmishes on the margins of Sweida. And violence could resume at any moment,” he said, expressing concern that “a month of relative military calm belies a worsening political climate, with escalatory and zero-sum rhetoric hardening among many.”

Pakistan’s Ambassador Jadoon strongly condemned repeated Israeli violations of Syrian sovereignty in Sweida, Daraa, Damascus and the occupied Syrian Golan.

“Such acts are in clear violation of international law, the UN Charter and Security Council’s resolutions,” he added.

ISLAMABAD: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has met top Pakistani civilian and military leaders and discussed with them regional security and counter-terrorism among other affairs, the Pakistani government and military said on Friday, with both sides resolving to strengthen their strategic cooperation.

Wang landed in Islamabad on Wednesday for a two-day Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue, days after his talks in New Delhi with India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval over their disputed Himalayan border. He also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the visit.

His Pakistan trip comes just months after a brief but intense military standoff between India and Pakistan in May, during which Islamabad deployed Chinese-made fighter jets and missiles. India later claimed Beijing had actively supported Pakistan’s response, though officials in Islamabad said their country’s “victory” in the conflict was based on its own capabilities.

During his stay in Islamabad, the Chinese foreign minister met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, with the Pakistan premier reiterating Islamabad’s resolve to further strengthen its partnership with China and underlining the central role of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in bilateral ties.

“During our most cordial exchange, I reiterated Pakistan’s firm resolve to further strengthen our All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership and underlined the central role of CPEC in driving our socio-economic progress and enhancing regional connectivity,” Sharif said on X, following a meeting with Wang.

Since 2013, Beijing has invested tens of billions of dollars in energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan as part of CPEC, a major segment of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. The corridor aims to connect China to the Arabian Sea and help Pakistan expand and modernize its economy through a network of roads, railways, pipelines and ports built in the country with Chinese loans. A flagship of the Chinese corridor is a deep-sea port at Gwadar in Balochistan.

Pakistan also accounts for around 63 percent of China’s arms exports, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). In the recent fighting, Pakistan used the J10-C Vigorous Dragon and JF-17 Thunder planes, armed with air-to-air missiles. Islamabad’s air defenses also used Chinese kit — including the HQ-9P long-range surface-to-air missile system — and deployed Chinese radar as well as armed and reconnaissance drones.

The Chinese foreign minister held a meeting with Field Marshal Munir and discussed with him regional security, counter-terrorism and other affairs of mutual interest, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.

“Mr. Wang Yi reiterated China’s steadfast support for Pakistan’s sovereignty and development,” the ISPR said, adding the army chief thanked the foreign minister for Beijing’s consistent support to Pakistan. “The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to advance peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.”

Pakistan sees China as its top economic and diplomatic ally, with Beijing making extensive investment in power, infrastructure, telecom and transport sectors.

On Thursday, both countries said they would prioritize “high-quality” cooperation under CPEC as they unveiled plans for an upgraded version of the multibillion-dollar flagship Belt and Road project.

“The two sides agree that the current priority for China-Pakistan cooperation is high-quality CPEC cooperation and build an upgraded version of CPEC,” Wang told reporters during a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart, following their talks in Islamabad.

“We will build on our past achievements to build a growth corridor, a livelihood enhancing corridor, an innovation corridor, a green corridor and an open corridor to promote greater synergy between the five corridors with Pakistan’s development planning.”

Both sides vowed to “deepen counterterrorism and security cooperation and enhance regional coordination.”

Speaking at the joint press conference, Dar welcomed China’s vision for expanding cooperation in trade, investment and people-to-people ties under “CPEC 2.0,” which would focus on industrial zones, green energy and agricultural modernization. He confirmed that PM Sharif would travel to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State Summit, scheduled to be held from Aug. 31-Sept. 1.