Pakistan PM calls for expansion of BRI to enhance cooperation

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif called on Wednesday for the expansion of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to enhance regional cooperation at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Islamabad.

Addressing the 23rd session of the Council of Heads of Government (CHG), Shahbaz welcomed the leaders of SCO member states and emphasised the importance of strengthening regional ties for long-term economic growth and stability.

“Flagship projects like the Belt and Road Initiative of President Xi Jinping ... should be expanded focusing on developing road, rail and digital infrastructure that enhances integration and cooperation across our region,” Shahbaz said in his speech as the chair of the meeting.

Shahbaz highlighted the challenges of poverty in his address, saying that it was not just an economic issue but a moral imperative that demanded the collective attention of the regional states. “With millions living in poverty within the SCO region, closer cooperation on poverty alleviation is critical,” he added.

Speaking about another dire global issue, Shahbaz said that climate change is an existential crisis that transcends borders and its impacts are felt universally but more acutely by nations like Pakistan. He went on to say that the country is on the frontline of climate-induced disasters.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a part of the BRI and has seen Beijing pump in billions of dollars into the South Asian country for road networks, a strategic port and an airport.

Shahbaz said CPEC would also help enhance cooperation, adding that 40 per cent of the world’s population lived in SCO’s 10 full member states. He also called for a special development funding mechanism under the SCO. He also urged the need to focus on tourism, green development, and energy sectors.

“From the esteemed platform of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a beacon of multilateralism, I stand in the belief that we possess not only the potential but the will to forge a future that is more prosperous and secure for our people,” Shahbaz said.

The SCO meeting is the highest-profile event hosted by Pakistan in years. The prime ministers from seven countries, including Chinese Premier Li Qiang, are attending the summit. Also in attendance is India’ External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who is the first Indian foreign minister to visit Pakistan in nearly a decade.

“A future that is inclusive, and reflective of the shared aspirations of all member states,” the prime minister said and also noted that the regional powers were at a historic moment of transition where sweeping transformations were reshaping the global, social, political, economic, and security landscape.

He said that Afghanistan, by virtue of its contiguity with the region, presents an invaluable opportunity for trade and transit, benefiting all SCO member states. “A stable Afghanistan is not only desirable, but essential, to fully realising these opportunities,” he added.

Afghanistan is part of the regional bloc and holds the position of an observer state but has been inactive since 2021, when the Taliban took over.

The prime minister called on the international community to step forward, with urgent humanitarian support for Afghanistan, while also urging its interim Taliban government to embrace political inclusivity to ensure that Afghan soil is not misused for terrorism against its neighbours by any entity.

The regional group criticised what it called protectionist trade measures, part of an intensifying standoff between Beijing and Western countries over tariffs on Chinese products. The SCO also hit out at “unilateral sanctions” as member states Iran and Russia face curbs on trade. The criticism came in a joint statement, following a heads of government meeting of the SCO in Islamabad, signed by 10 countries, including China, Russia, Iran, India and host Pakistan.

The statement said that the 10 member states, represented by seven prime ministers, “consider it important to continue joint efforts to counter protectionist trade measures that are contrary to WTO rules.”

Tariq Butt / Reuters