Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif delivered Pakistan's national statement at the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan today. In his statement, the Prime Minister reaffirmed Pakistan's strong commitment to the SCO Charter & principles and conveyed Pakistan's support for the expansion of SCO and reforms in the organization. He also welcomed the inclusion of Belarus as a full SCO member state and congratulated President Xi Jinping on assuming the Chair of SCO for the year 2024-25. The Prime Minister said that cooperation with SCO was a high priority in Pakistan's foreign policy. He called for collective action under the SCO platform for achieving socioeconomic development. He also advocated for enhanced connectivity within the region through efficient transport corridors and reliable supply chains. In this regard, he said Pakistan was the ideal trade conduit for the region and CPEC supplements SCO's vision of regional connectivity and integration. On climate change, the Prime Minister reiterated Pakistan's commitment towards a sustainable and nature-positive world. He welcomed the SCO Agreement on Environmental Protection and called on developed countries to enhance support to developing countries for climate change mitigation and adaptation. While highlighting the financial challenges faced by SCO countries from global conflicts and pandemics, the Prime Minister called for enhancing collective efforts to raise living standards in the SCO region. The Prime Minister emphasized that SCO Member States had a shared interest in ensuring regional peace and stability and, in this regard, called for lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan. In the statement, the Prime Minister called for a collective and comprehensive action against terrorism and extremism, which must be condemned in all its forms and manifestations. He said there was no justification to kill innocent people nor the bogey of terrorism should be used for political point scoring. He said Pakistan opposed divisive policies based on prejudice and discrimination, inciting hate on racial and religious basis. Most significantly, the Prime Minister urged the need to ensure respect for the universally recognized principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and people's fundamental right to self-determination and said UN Security Council resolutions offered a workable framework to resolve long-standing disputes, including those in the region. Failure to implement these resolutions had brought unimaginable sufferings to the people. On Palestine, the Prime Minister said Israel's indiscriminate bombing had killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians. He called for outrightly denouncing Israel's barbaric acts and called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire leading to realization of the two-state solution with the establishment of the State of Palestine with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds as its capital. The Prime Minister said Pakistan was looking forward to hosting the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Islamabad in October this year. Pakistan would strive to adopt forward looking initiatives to promote steady development and sought active and positive collaboration of all SCO Member States.

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