BARCELONA: The growing impacts of climate change have already pushed more than 18 million people to migrate within South Asian countries, but that could more than triple in countries like Pakistan if global warming continues on its current path, researchers have warned.
Nearly 63 million people could be forced from their homes by 2050 in the region as rising seas and rivers swallow villages, and drought-hit land no longer supports crops, said ActionAid International and Climate Action Network South Asia in a report.
The projection does not include those who will be forced to flee sudden disasters such as floods and cyclones and so is likely an under-estimate, noted Harjeet Singh, global climate lead at ActionAid.
He said the situation could become “catastrophic”.
Many will head from rural areas to towns and cities in their own countries, in search of work, he said.
There they often end up living in slum areas exposed to flooding and with very limited access to social services, doing precarious jobs such as rickshaw-pulling, construction or garment-making.
“Policy makers in the Global North and the Global South are not yet waking up to this reality,” Singh told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “They are not realizing the scale of the problem, and how we are going to deal with (it).”
He urged rich nations with high planet-warming emissions to redouble efforts to reduce their carbon pollution and provide more funding for South Asian countries to develop cleanly and adapt to conditions on a warming planet.
If governments meet a globally agreed goal to limit warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, the number of people driven to move in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal could be cut almost by half by 2050, the report said.
It builds on research published in 2018 by the World Bank, which said unchecked climate change could cause more than 140 million people to move within their countries’ borders by 2050 in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America.
The new report, which used an updated version of the same methodology, raises the original 2050 projection for South Asian migration by about half, adding in new data on sea level rise, as well as the effects of ecosystem losses and droughts.
The new report also tracks expected migration on a finer scale.
PREPARING FOR MOVEMENT
The projections have financial implications for countries such as India and Bangladesh, where the poorest people often lack the means to move far from their original homes to safer places without state support.
The new figures show the largest number of people are expected to migrate by 2050 in India, at more than 45 million.
But the country with the sharpest projected rise in migration is Bangladesh, with a seven-fold increase from today.
The report included examples collected by aid workers of people who have already been hit by worsening climate pressures.
In Pakistan’s arid Tharparkar district, Rajo, 37, and her husband, both laborers, moved to three different places in their area in the last three years to escape hunger caused by severe drought.
She lost a baby because of heavy lifting in her job and had to borrow money from the landowner to cover medical bills for her family, she told the researchers.
Kabita Maity, from an island in the Sundarbans delta region of India, has had to move five times as previous homes were gobbled up by the sea.
“We will have to stay here until the sea forces us out, as we do not have resources to buy land and resettle inwards,” Maity was quoted as saying.
The report called on South Asian governments to do more to prepare for worsening displacement linked to climate change — and emphasised the importance of acting now to limit the number of people who will be forced to migrate in the future.
It recommended strengthening social protection systems to provide cash and work for those affected by climate extremes and improving essential services for migrant workers in cities — now hit doubly by the COVID-19 pandemic, with many left jobless.
Measures that can help prevent “distress migration” include promoting farming methods that keep soils in good condition, managing water more efficiently, improving access to markets or trying new crops and ways to earn money, the report noted.
Where people are relocated, authorities need to ensure the land is safe and fertile, tenure rights are secure and people have enough money to build new homes, it added.
Sanjay Vashist, director of Climate Action Network South Asia, said tackling poverty and inequality also needed to be part of regional responses to climate migration.
“South Asian leaders must join forces and prepare plans for the protection of displaced people,” he said in a statement.
Climate change could create millions of migrants in Pakistan by 2050
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Climate change could create millions of migrants in Pakistan by 2050
- Nearly 63 million people in South Asia could be forced from their homes by 2050
- Largest number of people are expected to migrate by 2050 in India, at more than 45 million
Marco Rubio, Saudi FM discuss efforts to de-escalate India-Pakistan tensions
- World leaders, including Trump, have urged restraint and called for peaceful resolution of issues between both states
- India launched missile attacks inside Pakistan a day earlier, while Islamabad said it had shot down five fighter jets
ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud discussed efforts to de-escalate tensions between Pakistan and India as South Asia faces the risk of a major conflict, his office said on Thursday.
The development follows Indian missile strikes a day earlier that killed 31 people and injured 57 in different Pakistani cities, with New Delhi calling it a response to an April 22 attack in the disputed Kashmir region that left 26 tourists dead and which it blamed on Pakistan despite Islamabad’s repeated denials.
Pakistan said it shot down five Indian fighter jets and destroyed several border posts in the military clash that followed. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif termed the Indian missile attacks a “grave mistake” and warned that New Delhi “will have to face consequences.”
“The secretary and the foreign minister discussed regional security matters, economic engagement and efforts to de-escalate tensions between India and Pakistan,” US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
She added the US state secretary also commended the Saudi government for its efforts to help stabilize Syria, to stop the fighting in Sudan and continued engagement with Lebanon and the issues in the Red Sea.
World leaders including President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged restraint and pressed for a peaceful resolution between the nuclear-armed neighbors amid rising fears of a broader military confrontation.
Earlier on Thursday, Pakistan’s military said it had shot down 12 Israeli-made Harop drones launched by India at multiple locations, adding that the cross-border campaign was continuing and had left one civilian dead and four army officers injured.
India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars since independence over the disputed Himalayan region which they both claim in full but control in parts.
Pakistan army says has shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones launched by India
- Military says drones “neutralized” in Lahore, Gujranwala, Chakwal, Rawalpindi, Attock, Bahawalpur, Miano, Chhor and near Karachi
- Harop is standoff loitering munition attack weapon system designed to locate and precisely attack targets, manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries
KARACHI: The Pakistan military said on Thursday it had shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones launched by India at multiple locations, a day after Indian strikes in the country raised fears of a larger military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
India said it struck nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites on Wednesday, some of them linked to an attack by militants that killed 26 in Indian-administered Kashmir on Apr. 22. Pakistan said 31 were killed in the Indian strikes and vowed to retaliate, subsequently saying it had shot down five Indian aircraft and a combat drone.
The conflict between India and Pakistan has been confined in recent decades mostly to the disputed mountainous region of Kashmir. But the air strikes on Wednesday morning, which also hit the towns of Bahawalpur and Muridke in the heart of the country, were seen in Islamabad as a major escalation.
Early on Thursday morning, reports started emerging from multiple Pakistani cities of explosions and firing. The military’s media wing subsequently confirmed that India was “attacking Pakistan with Israeli-made Harop drones in panic.”
The Harop is a standoff loitering munition attack weapon system designed to locate and precisely attack targets, manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries.
“So far, 25 Israeli-made Harop drones have been shot down by the Pakistani army’s soft kill (technical) and hard kill (weapons),” the army said in a statement. “The debris of Israeli-made Harop drones is being collected from different areas of Pakistan.”
In the context of military defense, hard kill refers to destroying or neutralizing an incoming threat, such as a missile or drone, by physically destroying it or its components. Soft kill, on the other hand, aims to defeat the threat by disrupting its guidance or communication signals, often using electronic countermeasures or decoys.
Drones had been “neutralized” in Lahore, Gujranwala, Chakwal, Rawalpindi, Attock, Bahawalpur, Miano, Chhor and near Karachi, military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in a separate televised statement.
One drone, he added, had managed to “partially” engage a military target near Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s largest province of Punjab.
“Four men of the Pakistan Army have been injured in this attack near Lahore and partial damage to an equipment has occurred,” Chaudhry said.
“As we speak, the process of India sending across these Harop drones, this naked aggression, continues, and the armed forces are on a high degree of alert and neutralizing them.”
Earlier in the day, police reported a civilian casualty in the southern Sindh province, also confirmed by Chaudhry, when a drone crashed in the Sarfaraz Leghari village, located in Ghotki district.
“This morning, a drone fell over two villagers... killing one man and injuring another,” Senior Superintendent of Police Dr. Samiullah Soomro told Arab News over the phone, saying more details would be confirmed following a visit to the site.
Eyewitnesses in Ghotki said the drone hovered over the village before it was hit by Pakistani forces in the morning, following which it crashed near a canal.
“My brother Mukhtiar Ahmed, who was only 25, was martyred,” Jabbar Laghari, a local schoolteacher, said. “He leaves behind three children. My father was also injured.”
India and Pakistan have fought three wars in the past, two of them over Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.
Since April 22, they have intensified firing and shelling across their de-facto Line of Control border in Kashmir.
For decades India has accused Pakistan of supporting militants in attacks on Indian interests, especially in Indian-administered Kashmir. Pakistan denies such support and in turn accuses India of backing separatist and other insurgents in Pakistan, which New Delhi denies.
On Thursday, India warned that any Pakistan military action would be met with “a very, very firm response.”
“Our response was targeted and measured. It [is] not our intention to escalate the situation,” Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in a speech to his visiting Iranian counterpart.
“However, if there are military attacks on us, there should be no doubt that it will be met with a very, very firm response.”
Jaishankar met Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is visiting New Delhi days after visiting Pakistan, as Tehran seeks to mediate between the neighbors.
Araghchi, in a statement on his arrival in India, said that it was “natural that we want to reduce tensions” between India and Pakistan.
“We hope that the parties will exercise restraint to avoid an escalation of tensions in the region,” Araghchi said.
– With inputs from AFP
Pakistani and Indian NSAs established contact after New Delhi’s missile strike — Ishaq Dar
- The Pakistani deputy PM tells a foreign news outlet India’s actions are ‘not condonable’
- He does not disclose what the NSAs discussed, but Pakistan has vowed to avenge the attack
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani and Indian national security advisers established contact after New Delhi’s missile strikes on Pakistan killed at least 31 people, Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday, marking a rare official communication between the nuclear-armed rivals.
India said it launched the strikes targeting what it described as “terrorist infrastructure” inside Pakistan following a deadly assault on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam area, which it blamed on Pakistan despite Islamabad’s denials.
Pakistan said it shot down five Indian fighter jets and destroyed several border posts in the military clash that followed. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the Indian missile attacks a “grave mistake” and warned that New Delhi “will have to face consequences.”
In an interview with TRT World, the Pakistani deputy premier said India had done something that “is not condonable.”
“[Dar] confirmed that both a Pakistani national security adviser and Indian national security adviser spoke to each other after last night’s Indian missile strikes in Pakistan, as well as Pakistani-administered Kashmir and then Pakistan’s response, in which Pakistan said that five Indian fighter jets were shot down,” a TRT correspondent in Islamabad reported after the interview.
“However, he did not provide further details, but some people interpret that given the fact that now both sides have established contacts at the level of national security advisers, this means that some form of effort is underway to de-escalate tensions,” he added.
Pakistan recently named Lt. Gen. Muhammad Asim Malik, the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), as its National Security Adviser, while his Indian counterpart is Ajit Doval.
The two countries have rarely maintained high-level official contacts in recent years. Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties after India revoked the special constitutional status of the disputed Kashmir region in 2019 to integrate it with the rest of the Indian union.
The rivals, who have fought multiple wars over the Himalayan region they both claim in full but control in parts, also expelled each other’s diplomats following the recent Pahalgam attack.
It is not clear what the two NSAs discussed during their call, but Pakistan has vowed to retaliate after the missile strikes.
Pakistan sets up Hajj flight helpline as India-Pakistan tensions disrupt air travel
- Government has temporarily suspended flight operations at Karachi, Lahore and Sialkot airports
- Local Pakistani media has reported blasts in Lahore, attributing them to suspected drone attacks
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s religious affairs ministry has launched a 24-hour helpline to assist Hajj pilgrims seeking updates on flight schedules, an official statement said on Thursday, as the country faces widespread air travel disruptions linked to escalating military tensions with India.
The measures follow a sharp military escalation between Pakistan and India in the early hours of Wednesday after Indian missile strikes killed at least 31 civilians in Pakistani territory.
Pakistan’s military responded by downing five Indian fighter jets, while Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suspended all flights for 12 hours and several Asian carriers rerouted flights to avoid the region’s airspace.
“The help desk will operate 24 hours a day in two shifts,” the statement said while sharing the telephone numbers. “Hajj pilgrims can obtain information regarding their flights.”
Pakistan also announced it had temporarily suspended flight operations at Karachi, Lahore, and Sialkot airports, citing “national security” concerns.
Pakistan’s Geo News reported blasts in the eastern border city of Lahore, attributing them to suspected drone attacks, though police were still investigating the nature of the explosions.
Tensions continue to remain high between the two South Asian nuclear rivals, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described India’s missile attacks as a “grave mistake” in a speech on Wednesday night, saying New Delhi “will have to face consequences.”
The Indian army also said on Thursday the two neighboring states exchanged small arms and artillery fire overnight along their de facto border in the disputed Kashmir region split between the two countries.
Trump tells India and Pakistan to ‘stop’ clashes
- The US president initially played down the crisis as part of old tensions between India and Pakistan
- His administration has scrambled into action in the last 24 hours since the Indian strikes in Pakistan
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump called Wednesday for India and Pakistan to immediately halt their fighting, and offered to help end the worst violence between the nuclear-armed countries in two decades.
“It’s so terrible,” Trump said at the White House. “I get along with both, I know both very well, and I want to see them work it out. I want to see them stop.
“They’ve gone tit-for-tat, so hopefully they can stop now.”
Trump’s comments came as India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery fire along their contested frontier, after New Delhi launched deadly missile strikes on its arch-rival.
At least 31 deaths were reported in the fighting, which came two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir, which Pakistan denied.
Pakistan has long been a key US military ally but Trump has been keen to build up relations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he hosted at the White House in February.
“We get along with both countries very well, good relationships with both, and I want to see it stop,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
“And if I can do anything to help, I will be there.”
Trump initially played down the crisis as part of old tensions between India and Pakistan — even saying they had been at odds for 1,500 years, despite the two countries only forming after independence from Britain in 1947.
But his administration has scrambled into action in the last 24 hours since the Indian strikes.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to his counterparts from India and Pakistan on Friday, encouraging them to reopen dialogue to “defuse” the situation, the White House said.
