Freedom of navigation under threat: US withdrawal from global role a significant shift in int’l order: Dastgir

At the Sustainable Development Policy Institute’s 29th Sustainable Development Conference, speakers warned that uncertainty around the US role in global affairs could put maritime trade and Pakistan’s exports at risk. Former minister Khurram Dastgir Khan said freedom of navigation was vulnerable, while Pakistan Regional Economic Forum chairman Haroon Sharif cautioned that deeper US-Iran conflict could raise trade risk premiums, particularly for Pakistani exports.

A separate conference session urged federal and provincial authorities to coordinate more closely on utility-scale renewable energy and address gaps in power-sector policy. Participants cited costly power purchase agreements and dollar-linked terms as contributors to energy difficulties; they also called for restoring solar net metering. MNA Riaz Fatyana said renewables account for about 20 per cent of Pakistan’s roughly 50,000-megawatt installed generation capacity, and that the share could reach 30 percent by 2030 if the 2019 policy continued.