NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday addressed the SCO council of heads of government meeting in Islamabad. While speaking at the 23rd CHG meeting, Jaishankar underlined the importance of commitment to the grouping’s charter, disruption of various kinds such as conflicts, climate change, among others.
“Delivered India’s national statement at the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting today morning in Islamabad.SCO needs to be able and adept at responding to challenges facing us in a turbulent world,” Jaishankar said in a post on X.
Here are the top quotes from EAM S Jaishankar’s address:
- Highlighting the importance of commitment to SCO’s charter, Jaishankar said, “We meet at a difficult time in world affairs. Two major conflicts are underway, each with its own global repercussions. The Covid pandemic has left many in the developing world deeply devastated. Disruptions of various kinds – ranging from extreme climate events to supply chain uncertainties and financial volatility – are impacting growth and development. I urge you to reflect on Article 1 that spells out the goals and tasks of the SCO. Let me summarize it for our collective consideration. The objective is to strengthen mutual trust, friendship, and good neighbourliness. It is to develop multi-faceted cooperation, especially of a regional nature. It is to be a positive force in terms of balanced growth, integration and conflict prevention. The Charter was equally clear about what the key challenges were. And these were primarily three, that the SCO was committed to combatting: one, terrorism; two, separatism; and three,
extremism .”
- Speaking on undeniable “realities of
globalization and rebalancing”, EAM said, “It is only when we reaffirm our commitment most sincerely to the Charter that we can fully realize the benefits of cooperation and integration that it envisages. This is not just an endeavor for our own benefit. We all realize that the world is moving towards multi-polarity. Globalization and rebalancing are realities that cannot be denied. Cumulatively, they have created many new opportunities in terms of trade, investment, connectivity, energy flows and other forms of collaboration. There is no question that our region would benefit immensely if we take this forward. Not just that, others too would draw their own inspiration and lessons from such efforts.”
- In his address, Jaishankar also targeted Pakistan, without naming it, and remarked that
terrorism and trade cannot go hand-in-hand. “It is axiomatic that development and growth requires peace and stability. As the Charter spelt out, this means being firm and uncompromising in countering the ‘three evils’. If activities across borders are characterized by terrorism, extremism and separatism, they are hardly likely to encourage trade, energy flows, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges in parallel,” EAM said in Islamabad.
- Jaishankar also called for industrial cooperation among the council members to enhance competitiveness and expand labour markets. EAM said,” Industrial cooperation can enhance competitiveness and expand labour markets. MSME collaboration has positive implications for employment. Our collective endeavours can expand resources and encourage investment flows. Business communities will profit through larger networks. Collaborative connectivity can create new efficiencies. The world of logistics, as indeed of energy, could undergo a sea change.”