Islamabad, July 04, 2023 (PPI-OT): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday called for a joint action by the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to condemn all forms of terrorism, including State terrorism. In his virtual address to the 23rd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State (CHS), without naming the Kashmir dispute, he emphasized adhering to the resolutions of the UN Security Council to settle the issues amicably before it was too late.

He pointed out that diplomatic point-scoring must be avoided by all countries and said that all forms of terrorism, including State terrorism, must be condemned. In an indirect reference to India, the Prime Minister said, “There is no justification for killing people. Also, the religious minorities should not be marginalized in the garb of political agenda”.

Sharif said the SCO countries must take concerted actions against terrorism, extremism, and separatism both in their national capacities and also under the framework of SCO-RATS (Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure). “The SCO represents a promising future only if we seize the opportunity to achieve the shared goals for the region’s peace and prosperity,” he said.

The invitation to Prime Minister Sharif to attend the SCO-CHS, which was held in a video conference format, was extended by the prime minister of India in his capacity as the current Chair of the SCO. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi joined the virtual moot among other leaders of the observer states.

Terming regional connectivity, a defining feature of the modern economy, he emphasized focusing on investment in this area as a “vehicle of peace and prosperity”. On Islamophobia, he said peace and communal harmony were the need of the hour. He emphasized adhering to the resolutions of the UN Security Council to settle the issues amicably before it was too late.

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