Pakistan Hosting First Shanghai Cooperation Organization–Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) Meeting Today
Pakistan Hosting First Shanghai Cooperation Organization–Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) Meeting Today: Pakistan is hosting today the anti-terrorism conference being held in Islamabad, under the banner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
The three-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization–Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) legal experts meeting have kicked off.
Pakistan will be hosting its first SCO meeting, since the country became a member of the organisation in June 2017, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
“The Government of Pakistan is pleased to welcome delegations from SCO member states to Islamabad,” said the FO.
Legal experts from the eight member states, namely China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan, as well as representatives of the SCO-RATS Executive Committee will participate in the meeting.
The legal experts will discuss terrorist threats faced by the region and come up with ways and means to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation between SCO member-states.
“Pakistan supports SCO’s efforts for regional cooperation in fighting terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime.” The foreign office statement said.
The statement further stated that Pakistan is ready to share its experiences in tackling the menace of terrorism through the SCO-RATS.
India is attending the regional conference despite recent tensions that have persisted between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua said that “Pakistan has lost thousands of its citizens and law enforcement personnel and suffered economic losses of over $120 billion. Despite human and financial losses, our resolve to fight the menace of terrorism has not diminished,” she told the SCO-RATS participants.
This is the first ever SCO meeting being held in Pakistan since becoming member of the SCO in June last year. Legal experts from the eight member states, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan, as well as representatives of the SCO and Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure Executive Committee are participating in the meeting. They will discuss terrorist threats facing the region and ways and means to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation among the SCO member states.
The SCO is an important forum for global and regional peace and security and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation between member states.
The SCO, in which China and Russia play an influential role, specializes in regional security, counter-terrorism and related issues. The organization consists of China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Pakistan is expected to be represented by President Mamnoon Hussain at the SCO’s Heads of State Council summit in Qingdao next month while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will represent his country. Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had recently attended the Boao Forum for Asia in China.
Last year, Pakistan and India formally joined the SCO, spearheaded by China and Russia, despite bilateral tensions bubbling over Kashmir. Leaders of the largely symbolic body – including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping – formally signed off on the two countries’ accession at the annual SCO summit in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana.
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