ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that regional cooperation and connectivity were imperative for sustainable development.
The prime minister stated this at his inaugural speech at the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation at Convention Center in Islamabad this morning.
He said that hosting the summit was an honor for Pakistan which became member of the Euro-Asian organization in the year 2017.
SCO consists of China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus with 16 more countries affiliated as observers or dialogue partners.
The prime minister expressed the hope that the session of the SCO will turn out to be beneficial for regional development. He said the leaders of the organization attending the summit showed their commitment to taking ahead the objectives of the block for regional cooperation.
“SCO countries have immense potential to ensure development, regional peace and stability as well as improving lives of their people.”
He was of the view that regional connectivity was essential for the SCO region’s development snd said that the Belt and Road Initiative would be an ideal project if it was expanded to the member states.
He said that BRI and international north-south corridor project should be expanded focusing on developing road, rail and digital infrastructure.
“We should not look at these projects through a narrow political prism and invest in our collective connectivity capacity which is crucial in advancing our shared vision of an economically integrated region,” he told the participants.
The prime minister also drew attention to the Afghan issue and said that there was an urgent need for the regional countries to stop the use of Afghan soil for terrorism of which Pakistan had become a major victim.
He also called upon the international community to provide assistance for the reconstruction of Afghanistan on humanitarian ground.
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