Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday blasted India in the SCO conference and urged the international community to condemn and hold accountable the perpetrators of "state terrorism", including against people under illegal occupation.
Addressing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers via video-conference convened by Russian Federation in its capacity as current chair of the SCO, Qureshi also stressed the need for SCO to reject stigmatization and discrimination of any community in the context of the Covid-19 on the basis of race, religion or ethnicity. The foreign minister emphasized that tackling terrorism and extremism must continue to be a priority but terrorism-related allegations must not be used as political tool to malign and victimize any country or religion.
Without naming India, the foreign minister called for the international community to condemn and hold accountable the perpetrators of state terrorism, including against people under illegal occupation.
He opined that the Covid-19 pandemic posed a challenge of unprecedented scale and magnitude to humanity that necessitated coordinated responses.
The crisis was a litmus test for multilateralism, and the SCO was well equipped to tackle it.
The foreign minister specifically praised China's responsible handling of the crisis and its leading role in assisting the international community.
He also expressed gratitude for China's assistance to Pakistan.
The foreign minister briefed the SCO foreign ministers on Pakistan's coordinated response to the COVID-19 covering public health as well as the economic aspects of the crisis.
He observed that even though infections were spreading, Pakistan had seen relatively low fatalities.
However, he added that there was no room to let our guard down. Highlighting the socio-economic repercussions of the health crisis, he underscored the salience of Prime Minister Imran Khan's "Global Initiative on Debt Relief" for developing countries as a means to formulate a comprehensive multi-stakeholder plan of action to shore up economies and promote sustainable growth.
He emphasized that the SCO's coordinated efforts in that context would be crucial.
The foreign minister made a number of proposals to strengthen coordination among the SCO states against the pandemic, including regular interaction among ministries of health; joint research mechanisms; and strengthening of the SCO Hospital Alliance.
As a means to support the economically vulnerable segments of the society, underlined Pakistan's proposal for creation of the SCO Experts Group on Poverty Alleviation, as well as setting up the Centre of Excellence on Poverty.
Qureshi also stressed the need for the SCO to reject stigmatization and discrimination of any community in the context of the Covid-19 on the basis of race, religion or ethnicity.
Commenting on the regional situation, the foreign minister welcomed the US-Taliban Peace Agreement and hoped that the Afghan leadership would seize the historic opportunity to work out a comprehensive and inclusive political settlement.
The SCO, through the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group, could play a facilitative role at this juncture.
He emphasized that tackling terrorism and extremism must continue to be a priority but terrorism-related allegations must not be used as political tool to malign and victimize any country or religion.
Comments
Comments are closed.