Islamabad, July 22, 2022 (PPI-OT):Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has assured Pakistan’s active support in taking forward the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s development cooperation agenda. Talking to Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Islamabad on Friday, he reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to the purposes and principles of the SCO Charter and the ‘Shanghai Spirit.’

Highlighting the enormous potential of the SCO region, the Foreign Minister stressed the need to work together for harnessing its potential effectively for sustained progress and prosperity of the region as a whole. He underlined Pakistan’s interest in key priority areas, including connectivity and transport; food security; innovation and technology exchange, trade and economy, e-commerce and digital literacy.

Sharing his perspective on the situation in Afghanistan, the Foreign Minister underscored the need to maintain constructive engagement and practical cooperation to promote the shared goals of peace, stability, development and regional connectivity.

Meanwhile, Secretary General Shanghai Cooperation Organization Zhang Ming has termed Pakistan’s geo-strategic location ideal for connecting Central Asia countries with the sea routes. Delivering a speech at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad on Friday, he said the Central Asian countries are landlocked and Pakistan is ideally located to provide shorter sea access to these countries.

Zhang Ming said Pakistan is well placed for facilitating the SCO members in improving regional connectivity, which will facilitate trade among SCO member states and even beyond. He said the SCO is a multi-dimensional organization in terms of its scope and functioning and Pakistan can also benefit greatly from it.

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