Tianjin:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif used his presence at the Council of State Summit of the Council of State for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to pronounce a long address, raising the question of the Treaty of the Indus (IWT) and calling for a dialogue on all the disputes in progress on Monday.
Shehbaz told the managers of the Eurasian block of 10 members, including India, that Pakistan remained attached to peace, dialogue and regional integration, but stressed that its rights in international treaties and its sacrifices against terrorism were to be respected.
“The uninterrupted access to the share of maturity of the water according to the existing treaties between the members of the OCS will strengthen the work of SCO gently and will support the achievement of wider objectives for which the OCS has been established,” said Shehbaz, referring to the unilateral decision of India to suspend the ICTI in April.
Shehbaz reiterated Pakistan’s preference for diplomacy on confrontation. “We respect all international and bilateral treaties and we expect similar principles to be followed by all OCS members,” he said. He called on managers to support a “complete and structural dialogue” to settle disputes
The Prime Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to “normal and stable relations with all his neighbors”, highlighting dialogue and diplomacy as guiding principles. “Pakistan has always believed in the power of multilateralism, dialogue and diplomacy and the avoidance of unilateralism,” he noted.
Reassuring the block, he added: “Pakistan supports and respects the sovereignty and integrity of all the members of the OCS and its neighbors. We will continue our efforts to promote progress and prosperity throughout the region and ensure lasting peace in South Asia.”
Shehbaz also drew attention to Pakistan’s climate crisis, noting that the country was again struggling with torrential rains and devastating floods. “My country is again going through unprecedented torrential rains, cloud explosions and massive devastation due to the resulting floods in three of our main rivers,” he said, crying losses of life, cattle, infrastructure and cultures.
“Underdeveloped countries like Pakistan are constantly confronted with disasters induced by climate change, even if our share in global emissions is less than one percent. World leadership must assume the burden, because a more in-depth inaction will lead to more loss of life and livelihoods.”
The Prime Minister also discussed terrorism, recalling the diversion of March of the Jaffar Express near the Balutchistan Sibi region. The attack made at least 26 lives, including 18 members of security personnel.
“We have irrefutable evidence of the involvement of certain foreign hands in the devastating hostage of train hostage Jaffar Express, as well as countless other terrorist attacks against us in Balutchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Recalling Pakistan’s sacrifices in the war against terrorism, it to regional leaders that Pakistan had lost more than 90,000 precious lives and suffered economic losses of more than $ 152 billion – a “sacrifice that has no parallel in history”.
Turning to Afghanistan, Shehbaz called for a peaceful and stable neighbor. He stressed that increased regional connectivity required effective land, air and rail corridors. In this regard, he said, the Chinese-Pakistani Economic Corridor (CPEC) presented a practical demonstration of the Vision of SCO integration.
The Prime Minister condemned the “torn blood effusions from Israel to Gaza” and his attack on Iran, another member of the OCS. “The unjustified assault of Israel against our Fraternel member of the Iran country is condemnable and therefore unacceptable,” he said.
During the SCO Plus session, Shehbaz congratulated the announcement by President Xi Jinping of the Global Governance Initiative (GGI), calling it “a historic stage to a stronger multilateral system”. He congratulated China for organizing the successful summit and praised Tianjin’s statement.
On the sidelines of the summit, Shehbaz met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The two leaders examined cooperation in various sectors, the two parties expressing the satisfaction of positive impetus in relations.
Shehbaz reaffirmed Pakistan’s solidarity with Iran, while President Pezeshkian expressed his pain in the face of Pakistan floods and supported.
In addition, Shehbaz met a delegation from the new area of Tianjin Binhai, led by the secretary of the Party Lian Maojun. He praised the role of China in the economic progress of Pakistan and underlined CPEC’s contributions to energy and infrastructure.
For the future, he noted that the second phase of the CPEC would focus on intelligent cities, agriculture and new generation technological industries. The delegation of Binhai expressed its keen interest to extend trade, in particular for electronic commerce and the expansion of industry across Pakistan.
