Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif: “Peace is a choice”

NEW YORK — Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif used his address to the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly to deliver a strong message in favour of peace, dialogue and international cooperation, warning that the world cannot afford to allow conflict and religious hatred to define its future.

“The pursuit of peace,” he said, “is among the noblest of human endeavours,” invoking the Qur’anic command that if an enemy is inclined towards peace, peace should be pursued. He also recalled Pakistan’s founding commitment to the United Nations Charter and to contributing to the peace and prosperity of the world.

Linking peace with religious tolerance, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also warned of what he described as an alarming rise in Islamophobia, citing hate speech, discrimination, attacks on mosques and desecration of the Holy Quran. He stressed that “religious hatred must have no place in this world at all.”

He returned to the theme of peace towards the conclusion of his address, arguing that trust cannot be rebuilt through words alone, but must be demonstrated through action.

“We will restore trust when rivers become lifelines of cooperation, not fault lines of conflict,” he said. “And above all, trust will be restored when the guns are silenced and replaced by handshakes, embraces and smiles.”

In his closing message, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif presented peace as a deliberate choice:

“War is a choice. But peace is also a far better choice.”

He added that courage can sometimes mean preventing a war rather than starting one. “Pakistan has made its choice,” he declared. “We have chosen dialogue over confrontation. We have chosen cooperation over coercion. We have chosen peace over war.”

Calling on the 81st General Assembly to make peace a collective commitment, he concluded with an appeal to restore trust, preserve peace, and demonstrate that “even in a divided world, humanity can still choose to stand together.”