ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Speakers at a Seminar on “Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Challenges and Opportunities” on Tuesday stressed upon the need for resolving Afghan conflict as it was prerequisite for regional Countries to reap the benefits of their true potential.
The Seminar was organized by the Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS) at Serena Hotel in Islamabad.
While speaking on the topic titled “The Vision of Tajikistan for Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)”, the Deputy Director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan Moominova Farida Mahmoodovna highlighted the challenges being faced by the regional Countries, and said that intensification of cooperation was key to resolve regional issues.
Moominova said since security was among the primary concerns for all the regional Countries, consolidated efforts were need of the hour to counteract terrorism and extremism.
The Tajik official also urged the timely execution of international transport communications and energy projects fully supported by peaceful environment.
Moominova Farida Mahmoodovna emphasized on at least four themes with regard to economic cooperation among all SCO Members – and which included food security; water and energy issues; development of transport communications and transit potential; and production cooperation.
In his address at the Seminar, the Deputy General Secretary at One Belt One Road Center in Chinese Academy of Social Society Xu Wenhong spoke on “China’s Strategic Interest Viz-a-Ziz Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)”.
Xu Wenhong said China had geopolitical economic interests in the region, and One Belt One Road initiative was very important for China.
The deputy general secretary said SCO wanted peace in the region for regional development but Afghanistan was a problem for regional peace and development.
Xu Wenhong said there were different ways to solve Afghanistan problem, and stated China as one of the stakeholders believed that the afghan war could only be solved with the support of regional stakeholders and regional partners. “China wants only friends in the world not enemies,” he said.
Xu Wenhong said Pakistan was playing important role in the region and to bring peace in Afghanistan. Likewise, he added, Russia was trying as well to solve the Afghan issue with involvement of all stakeholders.
However, he added, the US’s approach toward the Afghan Conflict had been different as Washing wanted to solve it as a global police with force. He said the United States was following its international agenda in Afghanistan while regional stakeholders wished agenda of development.
The Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing, the Chairman CGSS Lieutenant General (retd) Muhammad Zahir-Ul-Islam, the Leading Expert at Center for Military-Political Studies in Moscow State of Institute of International Relations, Russian Foreign Ministry Dr. Vladimir Kozin, the former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Jalil Abbas Jilani, the former High Commissioner of Pakistan to India and President Islamabad Policy Research Institute Abdul Basit, and the Advisor at National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad Amer Hashmi also addressed the Seminar.
