IN his comprehensive address to the SCO Council of Heads of States (CHS) meeting in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif dwelt upon a number of issues of concern to Pakistan, member countries of the SCO and global community. Among other things, he put across Pakistan’s point of view in a convincing manner on the burning issue of grave violations of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) by India in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has ambitions to become a towering world leader, Indo-Afghan-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan, threats to regional peace and security due to continued confrontation between the United States and Iran, need to respect the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding by warring sides, rationale and future directions of Makkah Defence Alliance as a platform to deter threats to peace and excellent proposals aimed at strengthening cooperative relationship through SCO.
The Prime Minister’s fact and principle-based arguments on these and other issues coincided with a landmark verdict of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which upheld Pakistan’s point of view on water issue with India, declaring that the IWT between the two countries remained fully in force, as India had no justification for ending or suspending the agreement. He underlined that water being lifeline of the region, it must never be weaponised and should not be used as an instrument of coercion or exploited for political leverage. The force with which the PM raised the issue before a galaxy of world leaders made it absolutely clear that Pakistan will never compromise on its water rights and is determined to safeguard them at any cost. Terming terrorism as one of the gravest threats that has affected the entire region in its various forms and manifestations, Shehbaz Sharif pointed out that few nations have fought against the scourge of terrorism as resolutely and valiantly as Pakistan. It is because of the fact-based narrative that the world community acknowledges not only country’s sacrifices both in terms of men and material in the war against terror but also its contribution to regional and global peace and security.
Pakistan was close to inflicting a final blow to the remnants of terrorism but it is because of the Indo-Afghan collusion that keeps the scourge alive for the sake of destabilising Pakistan after failure of their designs to squeeze the country through military aggression. As even the UN has repeatedly drew attention of world towards presence of a number of terrorist outfits in Afghanistan, duly supported by Taliban regime, the PM warned that so long as terrorists continue to use Afghan territory to shed blood of innocent Pakistanis and other nations, lasting peace will remain beyond our reach. About the Gulf war, the PM emphatically stated that Islamabad MoU offers the most viable and enduring pathway to lasting peace in the region. At the SCO summit, the Prime Minister also mentioned signing of the trilateral defence pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye last month, reiterating that the pact was “fundamentally defensive in nature and is neither directed against any state nor intended to create any confrontation or division whatsoever”.
As Pakistan assumed the chair of the SCO Council of Heads of State, the PM laid out the country’s plan aimed at intensifying cooperation among member states and making SCO a more relevant organisation. It prioritises key sectors, including IT and AI, energy development, poverty reduction, disaster management, health, culture and sports. As part of that plan, Pakistan proposed establishing an SCO framework for sovereign AI infrastructure and governance to promote responsible and inclusive AI development and to also ensure that no member state is left behind. Hopefully, during the next one year, Pakistan will be able to make a remarkable contribution to cause of the organisation and it will have something to be highlighted at the next SCO summit in Islamabad.
