President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) contiguous geographies gave them a historic opportunity to work together for economic connectivity, address common challenges such as poverty, climate change, and bio-degradation.
“We have to make common efforts to address the challenges of poverty, and inequality. Only then we will be able to usher in true human security anchored in a just global order,” the president said in an Op-Ed published in China Daily on the occasion of SCO Summit hosted by China in Tianjin.
Over the past several years, he said the SCO’s performance in countering terrorism, curbing transnational crimes especially drug trafficking, had been impressive.
“The summit in Tianjin gives us a platform to chart a roadmap for the next decade of holistic development for SCO members,” he added.
The president congratulated President Xi Jinping on hosting the Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the largest gathering of leaders since its inception, in the beautiful city of Tianjin.
He further observed that when the SCO started it was but a sapling; but now it became a strong and tall tree joining nations to foster cross-regional peace, stability and prosperity.
“These goals cannot be achieved until SCO members collectively combat the three evils of terrorism, extremism and separatism that threaten to throw our world into a state of anarchy. In a short span of time, it has become the largest regional organization comprising nearly 80 percent of the Eurasian landmass and 40 percent of global population. It is inclusive and still growing,” he added.
One of the pressing tasks for the Summit is to promote and practice true multilateralism covering not just peace and security but economic, financial, commercial and technological ties amongst nations, the president stressed.
President Zardari said it was their obligation to strengthen global institutions. This would help us contain and control volatility in international markets and ensure stability.
In 2024, he said China’s trade with SCO nations rose to a whopping half a trillion dollars, which was a proof of the Organization’s growing heft.
By now, he said the world knew the SCO was not a security alliance; it was an Organization to serve humanity through economic collaboration and promotion of understanding among nations.—APP
