Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Tuesday assured Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) his country full support to curb extremism and terrorism to ensure regional peace and security.
In his address at the 14th SCO Heads of Government meeting, he underlined the need of collective move to confront such challenges.
The security situation around us remains precarious. We are seeing the threat to state sovereignty and territorial integrity. Armed conflicts continue to rage in several parts of the world unleashing forces, which are beyond the control of anyone, he added.
The Prime Minister said militant ideologies needed to be countered, adding that terrorism remained a serious threat and in fact become even more insidious. He said the SCO has a special role to play in promoting peace and regional stability.
As a member of the SCO family and in accordance with the Shanghai spirit,we have to identify common values and build on them. Our diversity can serve as a positive force, to promote harmony and advance avenues of win‑win cooperation and shared prosperity, the prime minister said.
The Prime Minister said the SCO partnership could extend to infrastructure and energy cooperation, development of natural resources and working together for a more democratic, accountable, transparent and just international order, adding that SCO Development Strategy 2025 envision these goals.
He said Pakistan shared the perspective that connectivity and development were critical to progress, prosperity and security in the region. He said Pakistan supported the one belt and one road initiative of President XI Jinping and remained committed to making China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPEC) Project a resounding success.
With its unique geo‑strategic location and at the confluence of South, West and Central Asia and excellent relations with all SCO members, the prime minister said, Pakistan was ready to play its role in developing these linkages and looks forward to join the efforts of all members states of the SCO organization, as a full member.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan shared with SCO and its members, deep rooted historical and cultural links and strong economic and strategic complementarities, adding that our interests and objectives intersect across a wide range of areas and issues.
Nawaz Sharif said fifteen years ago in Shanghai, the leaders of SCO members decided to lay the foundation of a new model of regional cooperation that stood for a new security concept anchored on mutual trust, disarmament and cooperative security.
He said it was envisioned as a platform for mutual cooperation and equal standing among its members on the basis of the principles of non‑interference and non‑alignment.
Over the last 15 years, the Prime Minister said the SCO has promoted mutual trust and cooperation in countering terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime. It has strengthened mutually beneficial partnership in the fields of trade, finance, energy, infrastructure, tourism and environmental protection.
The organization, he said has expanded its geographical reach by adding six observers And six dialogue partners. He said earlier this year the SCO took another landmark decision in Ufa, Russia, to enlarge its membership and accept in principle the membership requests o f two new members‑ India and Pakistan.
Following the historic decision, he said,Pakistan has made considerable progress by completing its internal processes to fulfill its legal obligations and to accede to relevant SCO treaties and protocols.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan was now waiting the Memorandum of Obligation from the SCO Secretariat so that its membership could be finalized at the next summit in Tashkent in June 2016.
Earlier, the Chinese premier Li Keqinag in his opening remarks said expansion of the SCO has been started while efforts were being made to make the organization a strong platform for addressing the challenges confronting the region.
He said the SCO focus was on security, economic cooperation and people to people contacts.
He said extremism, terrorism was posing unprecedented challenges to the community and called for collective efforts for peace, stability and prosperity of the region.
He called upon the SCO members to support the reconciliation process of Afghanistan
