ISLAMABAD: The chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Wednesday denied rumours that Pakistan would not attend the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) in New Delhi next month, saying Pakistan would be participating.

Maj Gen Asghar Nawaz, speaking to the press after the closing ceremony of the Regional Consultative Committee (RCC) on Disaster Management, said there was no need to refuse participating in India since the event will be held under the umbrella of the United Nations.

`After failing to attend the first session of the RCC, India also realised that it missed an important event. I received a call from the Indian authorities that the second secretary of the Indian embassy will participate in the second session, Mr Nawaz said.

The 13th annual meeting of the RCC began on Oct 17 in Islamabad.

Representatives of 16 countries participated in the meeting, but India and Bangladesh were among 10 countries that either sl(ipped or did not attend the meeting.

The absence of the Indian delegation led to rumours that Pakistan may not attend the AMCDRR, although input from the RCC would contribute significantly to the AMCDRR.

The NDMA chairman said all the issues regarding disaster risk management, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate change, in light of the Paris Agreement, were discussed during the conference, and it was suggested that a joint line of action be made to address them.

Speaking at the closing ceremony earlier today, Mr Nawaz said synergies in joint action needed to be created and partnerships needed to be built, in order to better manage risk and crises at a regional level to avoid natural disasters.