Astana/Moscow, July 4: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday raised the issue of terrorism as a major concern for member states at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and said terrorism in its all forms should be tackled through joint efforts.
Shahbaz, who arrived in Kazakhstan’s 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 and called for “meaningful” engagement with the Afghan Taliban government, Dawn News reported.
“Achieving lasting peace in Afghanistan is a lynchpin to this common objective,” he said, adding that the international community “meaningfully engage with the Afghan government to meet their genuine economic and development needs”.
Sharif also said the Afghan Taliban must also “take concrete measures” to ensure its soil is not used for terrorism against any other state.
“Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including state terrorism, must be condemned in clear and unambiguous terms,” the premier stressed, adding that there was “no justification for killing innocent people or using the bogey of terrorism” for political point-scoring.
Russia and China leaders attend regional security grouping meet
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday attended the summit of a security grouping created by Moscow and Beijing to counter Western alliances.
Putin and Xi joined the leaders of other countries that are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation at its annual meeting in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana.
Addressing the summit, Putin emphasised the group’s focus on ensuring security of its members and said the SCO will form a dedicated centre that will coordinate response to various security challenges. He added that the group’s members will also endorse a special program to fight separatism and extremism.
Xi called on the SCO members to show solidarity in the face “the real challenges of intervention and polarisation,” according to a readout of his speech by the official Xinhua news agency.
“In the face of the real threat of the Cold War mentality, we have to safeguard the security bottom line,” he added. (PTI)
