ISLAMABAD: Visiting Secretary General of Commonwealth Patricia Scotland on Monday declared that the organisation will continue to challenge all forms of discrimination, including Islamophobia.

`...the most important thing is to say that the Commonwealth has been challenging and combating all forms of discrimination for the last 75 years and we continue to do that, she said while speaking at a joint press conference with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar after a detailed meeting between the two.

When asked as to what measures the Commonwealth is taking to combat Islamophobia and xenophobia against immigrants in Europe, she said: `If you look at all our programmes, we are mainstreaming fairness and mainstreaming equality both for women, for girls, for young men and for all of our people.

`One of the beauties of the Commonwealth is that we have every religion, every race, every region. And we have made it a critical part of our policy to leave no one behind. And this is a challenge which we have never run away from.

She also referred to statements made by the Commonwealth about Islamophobia. `I think people sometimes forget that the Commonwealth is now the modern Commonwealth. Itis not the British Commonwealth, although the United Kingdom is of course a much loved member of our family.

`We do have 55 others of which Pakistan is a valued member too. So this issue is not just about Islamophobia, it is about all forms of discrimination. And everything we`re doing in the Commonwealth is challenging that discrimination,` she said.

Ms Scotland hailed Pakistan`s `resilience, passion and determination` in the last two years in dealing with the challenges and damage inflicted by super floods of 2022.

`...it is a great honour that I am able to come now at last to Pakistan to see for myself how the country has risen from the terrible events that took place two years ago.

`Pakistan`s resilience, passion anddetermination has been evident in the last two years. None of us will forget what happened here when the floods affected more than 33 million Pakistanis who lost more than two million of their homes, lost livelihoods, lost all that made life good, she remarked.

She said it was a privilege and pleasure to stand in solidarity with Pakistan during those darker days.

`It`s my pleasure to come and celebrate now with Pakistan as you rise from those difficulties,` she said.

Ms Scotland also applauded support that Pakistan has extended to the Commonwealth, particularly over the last eight years when she has had the privilege to serve the now 56 member states as secretary general.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar urged the Commonwealth to call for `resolution of outstanding disputes among member states with greater urgency and pressfor the respect ofinternational law and implementation of UN Security Council resolutions`.

He said Pakistan would continue to engage with the Commonwealth with a special focus on women empowerment and capacity-building for the young people.

The deputy PM stressed that Pakistan attached great importance to the Commonwealth and its institutions. The foreign minister said that during his meeting with Ms Scotland, he assured her of Pakistan`s commitment to the Commonwealth`s sustainable development agenda.

He asserted that Pakistan`s vision of regional connectivity and trade was aligned with the Commonwealth`s, adding that the country supported the forum`s target of increasing intra-Commonwealth trade to $2 trillion by 2030.