Astana, Jul 4 (PTI) Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday raised the issue of terrorism as a major concern for member states at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and called for âmeaningfulâ engagement with the Afghan Taliban government.
Shahbaz, who arrived in Kazakhstanâs capital of Astana on Wednesday for a two-day official visit, represented Pakistan at the SCO meeting where leaders and diplomats from countries including China, India, Turkiye, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan have gathered to discuss economic and security cooperation.
The prime minister, during his address, emphasised the importance of maintaining peace in the region as a precondition for economic development, Dawn News reported.
âAchieving lasting peace in Afghanistan is a lynchpin to this common objective,â he said, adding that the international community “meaningfully engage with the Afghan government to meet their genuine economic and development needsâ.
Sharif also said the Afghan Taliban must also âtake concrete measuresâ to ensure its soil is not used for terrorism against any other state.
âTerrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including state terrorism, must be condemned in clear and unambiguous terms,â he said, adding that there was âno justification for killing innocent people or using the bogey of terrorismâ for political point-scoring.
He also touched on the topic of globalisation and highlighted that leaders had the responsibility to rise above partisan geopolitics and join hands to secure a prosperous future for our people.
Regarding Pakistanâs role in regional trade connectivity, the premier said the countryâs location made it an âideal trade conduitâ for the region and added that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) supplemented âSCOâs vision of regional connectivity and economic interactionâ.
Shehbaz also advocated for the promotion âof national currencies for mutual settlements within the regionâ to avoid âglobal financial shocksâ.
He said alternative funding mechanisms would âgive impetus to different development projects in the SCO regionâ.
The prime minister said Pakistan would do âits utmost to provide impetus to collective efforts to raise living standards in the SCO regionâ while talking about the rise in political and military conflicts across the globe and consequent hike in food and fuel prices, which have âseriously affected membersâ ability to address povertyâ.
Pakistan and India became a member of SCO in June 2017 at a summit in Kazakhstan.
Recalling how Pakistan and Russia used to have a bilateral trade and a barter system in the 1950s and 1960s, Shehbaz, on Wednesday, during his interaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the sidelines of the summit, called for overcoming financial and banking issues between the two countries by renewing and expanding trade under a barter system.
âI think today is the time we can overcome financial and other banking issues by renewing our trade and expanding our trade under a barter,â Shehbaz told Putin. âThat will be very beneficial to Pakistan and we will be able to overcome many problems.â Putin said both countries could enhance their cooperation in energy and agriculture and expressed his readiness to promote cooperation with cash-strapped Pakistan in the field of food security.
Meanwhile, Shehbaz also proposed to establish tripartite institutional mechanisms, particularly in economic and investment areas to strengthen Pakistan-Turkiye-Azerbaijan economic and commercial cooperation. PTI PY AKJ PY PY
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