ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain has said that Pakistan sees the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as an important framework for regional cooperation as it has played a vital role in safeguarding peace and security in the region.
Speaking to the media ahead of his departure for the upcoming SCO’s summit to be held in China’s eastern port city of Qingdao, the president said: “The SCO promotes multifaceted cooperation in the region in a wide array of fields.”
The president said the organisation espouses the values of the Shanghai Spirit, which features mutual trust and respect, equality, respect for diverse civilisations and pursuit of shared development.
Pakistan, as a new member of the SCO since 2017, is committed to enhancing its relations with all SCO members on the basis of these values,” he added.
The president hailed the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) as an important and useful forum for cooperation against the common enemy of terrorism. He said Pakistan had successfully combated terrorism and it was ready to share its experiences in tackling the menace of terrorism through the SCO-RATS.
“While some major powers are becoming increasingly inward and isolationist, the Shanghai Spirit of mutual trust, equality, shared development and respect for diversity offers a template for a new kind of inter-state cooperation. By according equal priority to economic development and security cooperation, the SCO serves as a model of efficient and effective cooperation,” Hussain said.
He said the Belt and Road Initiative was a revolutionary global movement connecting over 60 countries with generational impact. “It is a win-win partnership that is already catalysing growth and integrating economies all across Eurasia, Middle East and Africa. Pakistan is a strong believer and an ardent supporter of the BRI.”
The president expected that the SCO could be a vehicle for the Belt and Road Initiative as all SCO countries were connected through the ancient Silk Route. He said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was fast reaching fruition.
“It entails greater connectivity and trade linkages between Pakistan and China through a network of road, rail, fibre optic cable, energy pipelines and power generation projects,” he said.
“By generating employment and improving energy and transport infrastructure across the length and breadth of Pakistan, we have already begun reaping dividends form CPEC. Many of the early harvest projects of CPEC have been completed. Energy projects have helped Pakistan overcome its energy shortage,” said the president.
Referring to the Pakistan-China friendship, Hussain said that Pakistan and China were all weather and time-tested friends.
“Successive generations of leaders in both the countries have worked hard to strengthen this relationship. Pakistan supports China on all its core issues,” said the president, adding that Pakistan believes that maintenance of peace and security is the collective responsibility of all parties to the South China Sea.
“Pakistan has maintained that disputes over the South China Sea should be peacefully resolved through consultation and negotiations,” the president concluded.
Published in Daily Times, June 9th 2018.
