In his address at the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Kazakhstan on Thursday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for collective action under the SCO platform for socio-economic development.
Advocating for enhanced connectivity within the region through efficient transport corridors and reliable supply chains, Sharif said that Pakistan is the ideal trade conduit for the region and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) supplements SCO’s vision of regional connectivity and integration.
Launched in 2013, the CPEC, a flagship project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, is a corridor linking the Gwadar Port in southwest Pakistan’s Balochistan province with Kashgar in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which highlights energy, transport and industrial cooperation in the first phase, while in the new phase expands to fields of agriculture and livelihood, among others.
Pakistan would strive to adopt forward-looking initiatives to promote steady development and sought active and positive collaboration of all SCO member states, the prime minister said.
He said that cooperation with SCO is a high priority in Pakistan’s foreign policy, underlining that the country is committed to the SCO charter and principles and supports the expansion of SCO and reforms in the organization.
On climate change, the prime minister reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to a sustainable and nature-positive world.
Welcoming the SCO agreement on environmental protection, he called on developed countries to enhance support to developing nations for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
He said that the SCO member states have a shared interest in ensuring regional peace and stability, and a collective and comprehensive action against terrorism and extremism, which must be condemned in all its forms and manifestations, should be taken.
