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Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday said the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) can play an important role in addressing the issues of drug trafficking and regarding peace in Afghanistan.
He was talking to media persons prior to his departure for Moscow on a two-day official visit to represent the country at the meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The Foreign Minister said possibilities for long-term relations with Russia had emerged including mutual cooperation in energy sector. He said India was denying interest to hold bilateral talks due to its weak stance on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
He stressed that India needed to rise above its Hindutva ideology to pursue a broad-based peace strategy for the region and beyond. The Foreign Minister is undertaking the visit on invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to participate in the meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers.
He will hold meetings with the foreign ministers of various countries on the sidelines of the meeting to discuss important issues of mutual interest, including bilateral relations.
The Council of Foreign Ministers is the largest forum of the SCO after the Council of Heads of Government and the Council of Heads of State.
