Pakistan Advocates Deeper SCO Ties While Rejecting Confrontational Geopolitical Strategies

Pakistan has urged the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to deepen regional connectivity and cautioned against confrontational geopolitics, according to the Pakistani foreign office following Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s attendance at the two-day regional summit in Kyrgyzstan.

Established in 2001, the SCO is a major trans-regional organization spanning South and Central Asia, with China, Russia, Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan as its permanent members. Collectively, SCO members account for nearly half of the world’s population and a quarter of global economic output.

The organization’s agenda of promoting peace, stability, and enhanced linkages in infrastructure, economics, trade, and culture aligns closely with Pakistan’s own vision for regional stability and economic connectivity.

Leading the Pakistani delegation at the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting held on July 23-24, Foreign Minister Dar delivered his country’s national statement, reiterating an unwavering commitment to the SCO charter principles of mutual trust, shared prosperity, and development.

Dar cautioned against confrontational geopolitics and the use of aggression as a policy tool, while highlighting Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts that led to an interim peace deal between the United States and Iran last month.

He emphasized the importance of enhancing connectivity, transport links, poverty alleviation, and practical cooperation among SCO member states to achieve the organization’s broader objectives.

Pakistan will assume the chair of the SCO Council of Heads of State (CHS) in September and will host all SCO member states for the CHS Summit next year.

On the sidelines of the summit, Dar engaged in comprehensive discussions on bilateral relations and regional developments with the foreign ministers of Kyrgyzstan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The formal meetings and informal interactions with SCO Heads of Delegation proved productive in underscoring Pakistan’s priorities for making SCO mechanisms more effective in advancing shared regional prosperity and economic goals.

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