Pakistan becomes full SCO member at Astana Summit - FINANCIAL-24
- Kazakh President made announcement after signing of documents;
- Ready to contribute towards SCO's collective objectives: Pakistan;
- SCO's goals resonated with Pakistan's national ethos, says Nawaz
- PM Nawaz meets Ashraf Ghani, shakes hand with Modi; Discusses
- bilateral relations with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan; Discusses bilateral
- ties with Putin; Modi avoids questions posed by Pakistan newsmen
ASTANA: Pakistan formally has become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) during 17th meeting of the Heads of the State Council summit held here on Friday.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev made an announcement in this regard after signing of documents by the founding members at the conclusion of 17th SCO summit. Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif along with his delegation attended the meeting of the Heads of State Council of SCO. Prime Minister's Advisor Sartaj Aziz, Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir and Minister of State for petroleum Jam Kamal were accompanying the prime minister.
President of China Xi Jinping, President Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev, President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Afghanistan Muhammad Ashraf Ghani, President of Belarus Alexandar Lukashenk and President of Mangolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj in their speeches also extended felicitation to Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
Earlier, a welcoming ceremony was held here in which Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was warmly received by Kazakh president in the powerful Eurasian body. Pakistan has been an Observer with SCO since 2005 and applied for full membership of the organization in 2010. The decision, in principle, to give membership to Pakistan was taken by the SCO Heads of States meeting held in Ufa, Russia, in 2015.
The Heads of State Council is the highest decision-making body of SCO which meets annually. Pakistan fully subscribes to the Charter of SCO and the "Shanghai Spirit". As an Observer, Pakistan has been actively participating in the activities of the organization.
Pakistan shares with the SCO and its member states, deep-rooted historical and cultural links, as well as strong economic and strategic relations.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Friday said Pakistan, as full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), would strive further to achieve the collective objectives of the organization for regional cooperation, connectivity and economic prosperity.
In his address at the summit of Heads of State Council of the SCO, the prime minister said Pakistan pursued a policy of peaceful neighbourhood and stressed upon promotion of peace and harmony for the future generations.
"As leaders, we should leave a legacy of peace and amity for our future generations; not a toxic harvest of conflict and animosity. Instead of talking about counterweights and containment, let us create shared spaces for all," he added.
The prime minister said SCO's goals resonated with Pakistan's national ethos; and so do the core values of the Shanghai Spirit and the SCO Charter with their own quest for a peaceful neighborhood. He said with its expansion, the SCO has been transformed into
true transcontinental organization. The SCO provided sheet anchor role for regional progress and prosperity in view of the global changes. "In coming decades, it would serve as a strong link between the Asia-Pacific, East Asia, West Asia and the Atlantic region," he added.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the SCO gave them a powerful platform for partnerships to promote peace, build trust, and spur economic development for shared prosperity. "Moreover, it helps us all combat terrorism, reduce arms race, eliminate poverty, fight epidemics, deal with natural disasters, tackle climate change, and ensure water security," he noted. He said Pakistan successfully fought the twin evils of terrorism and extremism, and his government brought about a complete turnaround in the economic situation of the country.
Pakistan fully endorsed the SCO's resolve to fight the twin evils of terrorism and extremism, he said. "Pakistan has fought its own fierce war against international terrorism and violent extremism; and with the grace of God, we have been able to turn around the security and economic situation in our country," he added.
Pakistan was diligently implementing China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC , a flagship of One Belt One Road initiative, he said, adding it would be beneficial for the entire SCO members. Congratulating India on the full member status of SCO along with Pakistan, the prime minister said that it was a historic day for Pakistan and the SCO members as well and thanked the founding members including China, Russia and others for their staunch support to Pakistan to become its full-fledged member.
He said Pakistan was not unfamiliar with the SCO mechanism but had developed deep relations by attending its summits and worked closely at its different forums. He said Pakistan came prepared and eager to learn from the founding members in the changing international environment.
The summit was attended by heads of member states including President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of China Xi Jinping, President Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev, President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. President of Afghanistan Muhammad Ashraf Ghani, President of Belarus Alexandar Lukashenko, President of Mangolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were also present during the summit.
Speaking on the occasion, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev stressed upon prospects of cooperation and prosperity offered by the Shanghai Cooperation and expressed his pleasure at the admission of Pakistan as its new member.
Chinese President Xi Jinping highlighted the significance of `One Belt and One Road' initiative and welcomed expansion of SCO membership with admission of Pakistan and India. He said the member states should gear up efforts for becoming part of infrastructure and connectivity initiatives. China supports the role of SCO and stands for more exchanges among UN and other regional organizations. He said Beijing was looking eagerly to host next SCO in 2018.
Russian President Vladmir Putin also congratulated Pakistan for becoming a full-fledged member of the SCO and expressed the confidence that the expansion would definitely make it a powerful economic and political forum. The SCO's priorities should be maintaining stability in the member states whereas scourge of terrorism could be countered by strong bonds of cooperation by targeting the mindset propagating extremism.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after its expansion, the SCO would represent about 42 per cent of the world's population. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said the SCO would open new opportunities for cooperation among the member states after admission of Pakistan and others. He urged the world and regional countries to tackle the issue of terrorism and extremism which was posing threats to the world peace.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon congratulated prime minister Nawaz Sharif over getting full membership of the SCO and expressed the hope that admission of new members would help strengthen the role of organization.
The SCO was a good platform for regional cooperation regarding transport linkages and energy sector in the landlocked Central Asian countries, he said and highlighted the issues of terrorism and drug trafficking.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was reluctant to answer questions from Pakistani journalists on Friday, after the 17th meeting of the Heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
As soon as he was asked about the humanitarian violations in Indian held Kashmir, he chose to quickly escape from the media scene. Modi remained silent about the loss of innocent lives in the occupied valley.
It was highly inappropriate of the Indian PM to avoid journalists from across the border. He refused to answer their questions. Apart from avoiding to comment on Kashmir unrest, he also remained silent on question regarding India-Pakistan rift, peace process between the arch-rivals and his take on the future ties.
He straight away went outside the lobby and remained his distance with the Pakistani journalists. It should be noted that the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Modi had an informal meeting at the SCO summit. The Indian counterpart asked about the health of Sharif s mother and his family.
Both India and Pakistan have joined SCO, a security bloc spearheaded by China and Russia
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif convened a meeting with President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani and Secretary General of United Nations Organisation (UNO), António Guterres, and shook hands with Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Friday under auspices of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Indian premier and Nawaz Sharif shook hands as they greeted each other in Leaders' Lounge around a year and a half after their last meeting in Lahore.
During his sitting with President Ghani, Nawaz Sharif reiterated that Pakistani soil was not used against Afghanistan in the past and would not be used against her in the future. He further demanded off the state to not level baseless accusations against Pakistan.
On the other hand, during his speech following India and Pakistan's accession to SCO as permanent members, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif congratulated his Indian counterpart over the development however, the favour was not returned by the Indian leader under whose command border violations have worsened between the two neighbouring arch rivals.
Indian premier did not acknowledge Pakistan's accession to the Russia-led bloc.
Nawaz Sharif along with his delegation is visiting Kazakhstan to attend meeting of the Heads of State Council of SCO.
Narendra Modi met Chinese Xi Jinping on sidelines of the 17th SCO summit. The meeting came weeks after the Indian leader refused to dispatch a delegation to attend 'One Belt, One Road' summit in Beijing.
India has maintained that Chinese vision for a 'Silk Road' to boost trade across the world would push all the member states in huge debts. China had hosted dozens of world leaders in her capital for the summit.
The SCO was founded in Shanghai in 2001 by then presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif called on President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
During the bilateral meeting, the prime minister thanked President Nazarbayev for invitation to participate in the ongoing 17th SCO Summit and congratulated him on hosting the summit.
PM Sharif reiterated Pakistan's strong commitment to cooperation with Kazakhstan in energy sector, regional connectivity and human resource development. He also underscored the need for enhancing trade between the two countries, which was much less than the potential.
The prime minister expressed the hope that the outcome of the ongoing SCO Summit will result in paving way for cooperation and economic prosperity of the people of the region.
He thanked the President of Kazakhstan for the warmth and hospitality extended to him and his delegation.
Earlier Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif called on President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and expressed desire to take bilateral relations to new heights based on mutually beneficial cooperation.
PM Sharif stated that Pakistan cherishes its close, friendly and fraternal relations with Uzbekistan, as both the countries are bound by strong commonalities of history, faith and culture.
"Pakistan is keen to further expand ties in all fields, particularly economic and energy cooperation, connectivity and human resource development," expressed the prime minister.
"Pakistan is keen to further expand ties in all fields, particularly economic and energy cooperation, connectivity and human resource development", he added.
PM Sharif stated that Uzbekistan's impressive annual economic growth and rich energy resources, and Pakistan's large industrial and agricultural base provide an ideal environment for expansion of trade and commercial cooperation between the two countries.
He proposed that both countries work together for making appropriate reforms in trade policies to facilitate trade, investment and free flow of goods and services between Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana on Friday.
Matters pertaining to bilateral interest particularly cooperation in diverse fields came under discussion during the meeting.
The Russian leader congratulated Pakistan for becoming a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Both the leaders are in Kazakh capital to attend the 17th meeting of the Heads of the State Council summit.
The prime minister and the Russian President discussed issues of mutual interests and bilateral relations during the meeting.
Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir were also present at the meeting. - NNI
This is the article Pakistan becomes full SCO member at Astana Summit - FINANCIAL-24 this time, hopefully can benefit for you all. well, see you in other article post.
Title : Pakistan becomes full SCO member at Astana Summit - FINANCIAL-24
link : Pakistan becomes full SCO member at Astana Summit - FINANCIAL-24
0 Response to "Pakistan becomes full SCO member at Astana Summit - FINANCIAL-24"
Post a Comment