Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to working together with other member states to strengthen SCO as an active and integrated regional forum to achieve common objectives of peace and prosperity.

Addressing the SCO Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan today, he said the SCO, with its enormous human and socio economic potential, represents a promising future.  As leaders, he said it is our responsibility to rise above partisan geopolitics and join hands to secure a peaceful and prosperous future for our peoples.

Alluding to the repeated avowal to invest in the connectivity of SCO region through efficient transport corridors and reliable supply chains, he said it is time to put these words into action.

The Prime Minister pointed out that Pakistan's location makes it an ideal trade conduit for the entire region. CPEC, the flagship project of Belt and Road initiative, supplements SCO's vision for regional connectivity and economic interaction.

The Prime Minister also emphasized the need for promoting the use of national currencies for mutual settlement within the SCO region saying this can help avoid international financial shocks. He said Pakistan supports the proposal to create an SCO alternative development funding mechanism to give the needed impetus to various stalled development initiatives.

Welcoming the SCO agreement on environment protection, Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan remains committed to working for a sustainable and nature-positive world.

The Prime Minister stressed the need for peace and stability in Afghanistan. He said the international community must engage meaningfully with the interim Afghan government to help them in their genuine economic and development needs.  He said the interim Afghan government must take concrete and effectives measures to ensure its soil is not used for terrorism by any entity against other states.

Shehbaz Sharif said terrorism and extremism whether committed by individuals, groups or states must be fought collectively in a comprehensive manner.

He said we must ensure respect to the universally recognized principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and people's fundamental right to self-determination.  He said the UNSC resolutions offer a workable framework to resolve longstanding disputes including those in our region. He said failure to implement these resolutions speedily and amicably have brought unimaginable sufferings to the people of the region.

Expressing grave concerns over the Israeli atrocities against Palestinians, the Prime Minister urged the SCO to out-rightly denounce the Israeli barbaric acts and call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire leading to the implementation of two states solution which includes the establishment of Palestine as a viable, secure and contiguous state on the basis of pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al Sharif as its capital.

The Prime Minister regretted the surge in Islamophobia saying this runs counter to humanity and must be universally outlawed.