Pakistan, China sign MoU to strengthen meteorological cooperation

ISLAMABAD  –  A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) and the Institute of Electrical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IEECAS) was signed here, aimed at further strengthening collaborative activities in meteorology and climatology.

Sahibzad Khan, Director General of PMD, and Dr Yaohua Li, Director of IEECAS, signed the MoU. At the same time, Khan Muhammad Wazir, Science Counsellor at the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing, and Prof Tianhua Hong, Executive Director of the China-Pakistan Joint Research Centre on Earth Sciences, witnessed the MoU signing, according to China Economic Net (CEN).

Khan Muhammad Wazir, Science Counsellor at the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing, said that the purpose of the MoU is to initiate and promote the establishment of a VLF/LF lightning detection network in Pakistan to improve the lightning warning capability of PMD and to reduce the casualties and property losses caused by lightning disasters.

After the signing ceremony, Khan Muhammad Wazir thanked the Chinese side for its support in building the disaster management capacity of Pakistan.

He noted with satisfaction the growing cooperation between the two countries in the fields of environment protection, climate change, and disaster management through technology transfer, sharing of information, and capacity- building programmes.