Reiterating their common position on counter-terrorism at the 53rd Munich Security Conference (MSC), Pakistan and China urged the West to take a non-partisan approach to combating terrorism. According to a message received here on Sunday, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said the West's policies to stay aloof do not support the war against terror. "Such policies will only give rise to terrorism," he opined.
"It is shocking that more than 90 per cent of individuals killed by terrorists are Muslims," he deplored.
Briefing the participants of conference about the sacrifices rendered by the people of Pakistan in rooting out terrorism, he said that there should be no double standard in tackling the issues of common concern.
Top officials of various countries, including China, Norway, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iran participated in the conference.
In his keynote address at a plenary session of the conference, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on the participating countries to adhere to co-operation and make right decisions for achieving the common goal of peace and development world-wide. Terrorism, he added, is a threat that needed to be tackled in a collective way.
Wang said that in two major speeches delivered in Switzerland last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for building a community of shared future for all and achieving shared and win-win development.
Peace and development are still the main themes of today's world, Wang said.
"We need to remain committed to multilateralism, which is the effective pathway to peace, development and the settlement of global issues," he said.
Multilateralism is not out of date, but should be carried forward, Wang said, adding that co-operation among big countries needs to be strengthened.
"Big countries have more resources and more capabilities. They have the responsibility and the obligation to play a greater role in maintaining international peace and security and make more contributions to human development and progress," he said.
Wang said that global governance should be improved so as to solve the imbalances in world development and realize sustainable growth of the world economy.
"China is actively participating in global governance," he told an audience of over 300 people. Wang added that the world needs to firmly advance all types of regional co-operation as this has proved effective for promoting global development.
Founded in 1963, the annual MSC has become a forum dedicated to promoting peaceful conflict resolution and international co-operation and dialogue. China first attended conference in 1999.