ISLAMABAD, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has great potential to promote regional development and connectivity to establish the community of shared destiny for mankind, analysts said here Tuesday.
Addressing an international conference with the topic "Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Future Prospects and Regional Connectivity," analysts from SCO members and observers said the organization can elevate the living standard of over 3 billion people of the region by strengthening multilateral economic cooperation, investment and expansions of transit and communication corridors.
Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua said all the countries whether big or small will take dividends with rich and peaceful future under the SCO and the Belt and Road Initiative.
"The SCO and Belt and Road Initiative are two great platforms for connectivity and South-South Cooperation," said the foreign secretary, adding that Pakistan, being a member of the SCO, has done a lot of work with China for regional development especially through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which is now offering opportunities to other countries.
The experts emphasized the need for close cooperation among SCO members in the fields of banking, science and technology, food and agriculture, education, anti-terrorism expertise, intelligence sharing, transportation and development so as to jointly contribute to peace and stability in the region.
Director of Chinese Studies Center at National University of Science and Technology Islamabad Syed Hasan Javed said the SCO is a new and unique model of cooperation and it is rising with great potential by offering opportunities to build the community of shared destiny.
Meanwhile, the analysts also stressed the need for regional cooperation under the multilateral platform of the SCO to fight the real-time challenges facing the region, especially terrorism, separatism and religious extremism.
Leonid Gusev, an expert at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, suggested that SCO members form joint counter-terrorism efforts in the region.
The speakers agreed that the SCO has a greater potential to forge strong ties between regional states for peace and Pakistan can contribute to the SCO by sharing its experiences of the fight against terrorism.
