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LAHORE: The government of Punjab on Thursday pledged to build climate-resilient infrastructure and improve early warning systems as the World Bank offered support for post-flood recovery efforts in Pakistan’s most populous province, ravaged by some of the worst monsoon flooding in recent history.

Heavy monsoon rains and floods have killed at least 1,006 people and injured more than 1,000 nationwide since June 26, when this year’s monsoon season began. 

Punjab, the country’s agricultural heartland, has borne the brunt since late August, with over 300 people killed, 4,700 villages submerged, 4.7 million people affected and 1.5 million acres of crops damaged after rivers swelled from torrential downpours and India released water from its dams. Authorities say they have launched the province’s largest-ever search and rescue operation, moving 2.6 million people and 2.1 million animals to safety.

The floods have disrupted the pace of development projects in the province, but a survey is already under way to assess the damage, Punjab’s senior provincial minister Maryam Aurangzeb said after meeting World Bank Country Director Bolorma A. Amgaabazar in Lahore on Thursday. 

 “We will build infrastructure that is resilient to floods and capable of withstanding climate disasters,” the minister was quoted as saying in a statement. “A modern early warning system will be implemented.”

Aurangzeb said the provincial government had mounted an unprecedented disaster response. 

“The largest rescue and relief operation in history was carried out,” she said. “Millions of people and their livestock were moved to safe locations.”

She added that the current administration was the first in Punjab to undertake “record work” on environmental improvement, including eliminating toxic emissions, shifting brick kilns to zigzag technology and taking steps to tackle smog.

According to the statement, World Bank’s Amgaabazar expressed satisfaction over progress on development projects in the province and commended the monitoring system established by the chief minister.

“Social protection programs in Punjab are proving to be effective,” she said. “With the completion of these projects, the Punjab government will also succeed in achieving its development goals.”

Thirteen projects are currently underway in Punjab with World Bank collaboration, while four new projects are under consideration.
 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Wednesday unregulated artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in military applications, posed grave risks and must be fully governed by the United Nations Charter and international law, according to a state media report.

Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told a Security Council debate on AI that applications without “meaningful human control” should be prohibited.

He maintained that AI had the potential to accelerate socio-economic progress but could also deepen inequalities and destabilize the international order.

Asif particularly cited the use of autonomous munitions and high-speed cruise missiles in a recent military exchange between India and Pakistan as an example of the dangers.

“AI must not become a tool of coercion or technological monopoly,” he said, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency, adding that it “lowers the threshold for use of force, making wars more politically and operationally feasible.”

The defense minister urged states to commit to measures that prevent the destabilizing use of AI, stressing that human judgment must remain central in matters of war and peace.

“We must ensure that AI is harnessed to promote peace and development, not conflict and instability,” he added.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said while opening the debate that AI was already transforming daily life and the global economy “at breathtaking speed.”

While it can be used responsibly for prevention and protection, “without guardrails, it can also be weaponized,” he cautioned, renewing calls for a ban on lethal autonomous weapons without human control by 2026 while pointing out the “window is closing” for timely decisions.

The meeting, chaired by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, was held on the margins of the 80th UN General Assembly Session.

It also featured global leaders, academics and experts who urged stronger international governance, broader access to AI development and safeguards to preserve human authority over life-and-death decisions.