GOA, INDIA: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in his address at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Friday urged nations to collectively eradicate the menace of terrorism and “not get caught up in weaponising terrorism for diplomatic point-scoring”.
The foreign minister, who is currently on a two-day visit to India, said that “the collective security of our peoples is our joint responsibility”.
“A peaceful and stable Afghanistan is a key not only to regional integration and economic cooperation but also to global peace and stability,” he added.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs quoted the FM saying that “unilateral and illegal measures by states in violation of international law and Security Council resolutions run counter to the SCO objectives”.
Bilawal also stressed the importance of enhanced cooperation and regional integration. “When great powers play [the] role of peacemaker, we can unlock [the] potential of peace while paving [the] way for greater cooperation, regional integration and economic opportunities for our peoples,” he added.
Reiterating Pakistan’s strong commitment to the SCO, the foreign minister said that “there couldn’t be a more powerful indication of the importance that Pakistan attaches to the SCO than my presence here in Goa for this Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM)” meeting.
He also highlighted SCO’s role in enhancing regional connectivity and said that the organisation “could be a key platform for taking the vision of Eurasian connectivity to the next level”.
FM Bilawal also talked about the climate challenges the region faces and said that “the climate crisis poses an existential threat to humanity”.
“Pakistan has emerged as an important voice in the global discourse on Climate Change in the aftermath of that natural calamity,” the FM added.
He further called for closer cooperation for poverty alleviation.
“There is a very strong and compelling case for closer cooperation for poverty alleviation under SCO. The establishment of the Special Working Group on Poverty Alleviation proposed by Pakistan will be a step in that direction,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the Foreign Office (FO) shared a picture of FM Bilawal with his Indian counterpart S Jaishnakar.
A day earlier, Bilawal had arrived in the Indian coastal resort of Goa to take part in the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers. The foreign minister was received at the airport by senior officials of the Indian External Affairs Ministry.
The foreign minister is accompanied by the foreign secretary and other senior officials on a visit that rekindles the hopes for an unlikely thaw in the relationship between the two countries.
The SCO comprises China, Russia, Pakistan, India, and key Central Asian States. India, the current chair of the eight-member bloc, is hosting a series of events, including the CFM.
The SCO-CFM usually doesn’t get much traction, but this is not the case this year.
