Muhammad Zahid Rifat
Pakistan believes in having and maintaining cordial relations with all countries and in particular brotherly ties with the Islamic countries in accordance with the principles of the foreign policy as spelt out by the Quaidi-i-Azam. For sometime now, Pakistan has been endeavouring to promote and strengthen fraternal brotherly ties with all countries, particularly neighbouring countries and members of the Islamic Ummah.
Prime Minister Muhammd Shehbaz Sharif has been quite active in this regard and been visiting friendly countries every now and then to further strengthen and promote bilateral brotherly relations with the Islamic countries in particular and also for enhancing trade, investment and collaborations in different sectors to boost and streamline the national economy in a steady and appreciative manner, as such efforts on the part of the top leadership are direly needed.
The PM has recently paid a three-day visit to two Islamic countries one after the other. First he made a two-day visit to Dushanbe in Tajikistan, from where he and his delegation flew to Astana in Kazakhstan for one day.
The visit to Tajikistan was in furtherance of his commitment to improve cooperation with Tajikistan in different sectors to the maximum extent possible in the shortest possible time. PM Shehbaz and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon subsequently addressed a news conference together to announce the discussion between them.
The PM told the Tajik President that there was vast potential in Pakistan for foreign investment in energy, mining,industry, agriculture and other sectors and emphatically stressed that Tajikistan should explore these opportunities on priority basis for mutual benefits .
On his part, the Tajik President duly underscored the existing very and brotherly cordial relations between the two countries.
Both the leaders also discussed ways and means for further strengthening the cooperation in various fields and improving regional connectivity and linkages between their people.
The PM apprised the host President about the continuosly deteriorating human rights situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and concerted efforts being made to change the demographic structure of the occupied valley. They also expressed their deep concern over the ongoing situation in Gaza and urged the international community to redouble their efforts for ending the violence which has already caused killings of thousands of Palestinians including women and children.
Both the leaders also witnessed signing of several agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) in Aviation, Diplomacy , Education, Sports, People to People Linkages, Industri Cooperation, Tourism among others.
Hopefully, these will materialise as soon as soon possible through concerted efforts in Islamabad and Dushanbe by all those responsible and concerned so that the fruits of these start reaching the people for their mutual benefits.
Relations between Pakistan and Tajikistan will also be further promoted and strengthened mainly due to the personal efforts which the PM was taking in boosting Islamabad’s relations with more and more foreign friendly countries and attracting maximum possible foreign investment and collaborations in different sectors for mutual benefits.
After a two days visit to Tajikistan, the PM along with his delegation flew to Kazakhstan on a one day visit to Astana to attend the 24th Summit of the Council of the Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Pakistan is a member of the SCO which was formed in April 1996 as a strategic partner of the United Nations on the issue relating to political affairs, peace , besides China, Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, India, Iran, and Belarus being the latest addition with Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates (UAE) among others as the dialogue partners.
Addressing the elite gathering, the PM availed the opportunity to categorically reaffirm Pakistan’s commitment to SCO objectives of peace and prosperity, quite emphatically urged the member states to pt their collective efforts against terrorism, poverty alleviation, dispute resolution making a pointed reference to the ongoing Israeli barbarism in Palestine., firmly assured that his country will continue working to strengthen SCO as an active and integrated regional form for achieving the common objectives of peace and prosperity.
Terming terrorism as a major concern for the member states, PM Shehbaz Sharif made a pointed reference to Pakistan and called for meaningful engagement with the Afghan Interim Government from where terrorists were
targeting his country, attacking and killing innocent civilians, police and army personnel lately quite frequently .
Highlighting Pakistan’s ideal strategic location, the PM made a pointed reference to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which was a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and it duly supplemented the SCO visit of regional connectivity and economic integration.
Felicitating Chinese President Xi Jinping on assuming the SCO chairmanship for 2024-25, he expressed the confidence that under his visionary leadership the SCO would continue to grow and prosper adding that Pakistan aligns itself with the socio-economic objectives of the SCO.
In short, the PM’s address to the gathering encompassed all major regional and international issues including terrprism and extremism, Islamophobia, instability in neighbouring Afghanistan, poverty, climate change, regional connectivity and resolution of disputes.
Besides the SCO Summit deliberations itself, a lot of developments and activities also took place on the sidelines .
The PM moved around fast and interacted with a number of participating leaders. Most importantly, the PM managed to interact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed with him for sometime improving Islamabad-Mosco bilateral relations in a meaningful manner. He had done this without himself going on a bilateral visit or hosting the Russian President. Pakistan’s relations with Russia have two broad dimensions to say the least. It is something which Pakistan’s all weather, iron brother China also looked upon favourably and on the other hand it is something that worries India. PM Shehbaz Sharif invited the Russian President to visit Pakistan at his convenience at the earliest and also stressed on increased trade and revival of barter trade between the two countries.
The PM, addressing the Summit of SCO Plus Format assured the gathering Pakistan will be pursuing anti-terrorm, multilateralism goals during its upcoming two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
The quite frequent bilateral visits of the civil and military leadership quite obviously aimed at boosting and strengthening existing cordial relations with friendly countries including those located in the Central Asia Region and exploring trade, investment and collaborations opportunities and inviting prospective investors and businessmen from these countries to Pakistan for exploring the vast investment and trade opportunities as collaborator and partnerships .All this augurs well for streamlining the somewhat staggering national economy and resultantly taking maximum welfare measures and initiatives for the well-being of the people without any discrimination whatsoever.
The writer is Lahore-based Freelance Journalist, Columnist and retired Deputy Controller (News), Radio Pakistan, Islamabad and can be reached at zahidriffat@gmail.com
