SCO PHOTO: APP
The statement came from Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, who opened the three-day meeting of legal experts from SCO.
The three-day SCO–Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) Legal Experts meeting is being attended by delegates from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
This is also the first ever SCO meeting being held in Pakistan since it became a member of the organisation in June 2017.
Inaugurating the conference, Tehmina said the SCO holds special significance for Pakistan.
‘Human nor financial losses have diminished Pakistan’s resolve to fight terrorism’
“We take pride in becoming a full member of the SCO — an organisation that offers a unique new model of inter-state cooperation for peace, security, connectivity and sustainable development.”
“The SCO holds tremendous potential for connectivity, trade, energy and economic development. It can lead to progress and prosperity for our entire region. We look forward to bringing further vitality to this vibrant organisation,” she added.
The foreign secretary informed the participants about the regional importance of Pakistan by highlighting several facts such as comprising a consumer market of over 200 million people and a vast business potential.
“With our rapidly modernising infrastructure, Pakistan offers the SCO enormous opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation”, added Tehmina.
Pakistan’s historical and cultural ties, as well as strong economic and strategic links with its fellow members, can act as an enabler in realising the SCO’s vision. She said Pakistan was cognizant of the threats posed by terrorism, separatism and extremism to our region and beyond.
“Having fought terrorism, we have lost thousands of our citizens and law enforcement personnel, with many more injured. We have also suffered economic losses of over US$120 billion”, said the foreign secretary addressing the conference.
She, however, said neither the human nor the financial losses had diminished Pakistan’s resolve to fight this menace. “Through our comprehensive efforts, over the past several years, supported by a firm domestic political consensus, we have been able to turn the tide.”
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Meanwhile, the meeting was also told by Tehmina that Pakistan looks forward to working with all regional countries under the umbrella of SCO to effectively eliminate this menace from the region. In this regard, Pakistan fully supports and welcomes the efforts of SCO-RATS in the fight against “three evils” of terrorism, extremism and separatism, the foreign secretary said.
“As a new member, Pakistan would continue to complement these efforts. We support SCO consensus that as we engage in the fight against terrorism, we must respect the norms and principles of international law, UN Charter and shun “double standards”. Terrorism cannot and should not be identified with any religion, individual countries or nationalities”, concluded Tehmina.
The three-day conference will be concluded on Friday and a joint declaration will be announced.
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