Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
17 October 2024 | 12:07 p.m. CAT
2-minute read

The 2024 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, held in Islamabad on 15 and 15 October 2024 was attended by leaders of various member states, including China, India, Iran and Russia.

The SCO was instituted by China and Russia in 2001 to examine security concerns in Central Asia and the wider region.

This year’s summit carried significant importance due to rising security concerns in the region, Sanusha Naidu told Radio Islam presenter Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat in this week’s Asia-Pacific Report.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif emphasised the expansion of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a crucial element for enhancing regional connectivity and cooperation. He also highlighted the potential of the SCO to drive economic progress, regional peace, and stability by improving infrastructure such as roads, rail, and digital networks across the region.

Pakistan, playing a central role as host, called for a robust connectivity framework and supported the establishment of an SCO alternative development funding mechanism to revive stalled development projects.

“What makes this meeting so critical is it elevates the status of Pakistan,” Naidu observed.

In addition, poverty alleviation, climate change, and economic cooperation were high on the agenda.

Outcomes included commitments to energy cooperation, enhanced investor collaboration, and joint efforts on environmental protection. The SCO also emphasised the importance of private sector engagement to boost trade and investment within the region, and Pakistan pledged to organise simulation exercises for disaster preparedness.

Notably, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar travelled to Islamabad for the summit- the first time in almost 10 years an Indian foreign minister travelled to Pakistan and the first time since Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the country in 2016 that any minister stepped foot on Pakistan soil.

“India wants to be seen not just as a country that is in the shadow of China, but a country that essentially is standing its own ground economically, politically, globally, in terms of influence, in terms of how its shaping global norms,” Naidu noted about India’s involvement at the summit in terms of tensions with China.

Listen to the Asia-Pacific Report on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.