Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has called for evolving a broad national consensus to achieve development goals and uplift the economy.

Addressing an event regarding Sustainable Development Goals in Islamabad on Wednesday, he noted a country cannot progress in the presence of polarization and anarchy.  He stressed that political stability and continuity of policies is a must to take the country forward.

The Minister for Planning said it is a defining moment to learn from our past mistakes and put the country in the right direction.

As regards implementation of Sustainable Development Goals, the Minister for Planning said the parliamentarians must push for such legislation and allocation of resources in the budget that helps in the implementation of the global goals. He said the parliamentarians should oversee the implementation of the SDGs.

In his remarks on the occasion, Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf pointed out that Pakistan had adopted the Sustainable Development Goals as its own national development agenda through a unanimous resolution in 2016.

He, however, said Covid-19 has been a major setback to our economy. There are several factors affecting the implementation of SDGS which include climate change, poverty, gender inequality and social economic challenges. He said formation of national accountability and governance structure is required to track the nation's progress on the sustainable development goals. He said it is also imperative to protect our environment to ensure sustainable development.