During presiding over the 23rd Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Islamabad on Wednesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the expansion of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
China, India, Iran, Pakistan Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus are the members of the SCO, with 16 more nations participating as observers or “dialogue partners.”
At the 2017 SCO meeting in Kazakhstan, which was attended by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who lately also voiced hope for mending ties with India, Pakistan was admitted as a full member.
The 23rd meeting of the Council of the Heads of Government (CHG), which PM Shehbaz now chairs, was held at the federal capital’s Jinnah Convention Centre.
The premier spoke at the summit and stated: The expansion of flagship projects such as President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is currently in its second phase, and the international north-south transport corridor should prioritize the development of road, rail, and technological infrastructure […].
He said, “Let’s invest in our collective connectivity capacity, which is crucial in promoting the shared vision of a financially integrated area, instead of viewing such projects through a narrow political prism.”
According to the prime minister, the SCO connectivity structure should further the goal of a linked Eurasia in addition to enhancing regional commerce.
He pointed out that the core of SCO involvement was economic cooperation and that supporting economic integration required investments in regional infrastructure.
“Support a strategy for the creation of Energy Cooperation 2030 and the formation of the Association of Investors,” PM Shehbaz urged the members of the SCO.
