Qureshi calls on SCO to combat resurgent fascism

MOSCOW: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has urged members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to work together to address resurgence of fascist ideologies and violent nationalism anywhere in the world especially in the region.

Addressing the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting in Moscow on Thursday, he said those perpetrating state terrorism against people under illegal occupation in disputed territories must be condemned and held accountable, Radio Pakistan reported.

The Foreign Minister stressed that peaceful resolution of outstanding disputes is a pre-requisite for achieving development, economic growth, poverty alleviation and social uplift of the masses. “In this context, we strongly emphasise the importance of faithfully implementing UN Security Council Resolutions,” he added.

Qureshi said the world must strongly condemn and oppose any unilateral and illegal measures to change the status of disputed territories in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions. “We must affirm that extremist as well as xenophobic ideologies, including Islamophobia, have no place in today’s world,” he added.

Highlighting the importance of peace and stability in Afghanistan, the Foreign Minister said Pakistan has assiduously supported efforts for a peace and reconciliation process that is Afghan-led and Afghan-owned.

He said the Afghan stakeholders must now seize this historic opportunity and work together to secure an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement. “It is critical that the intra-Afghan negotiations commence at the earliest,” he added.

The minister said it is also imperative to be cognisant of the role of “spoilers within and outside, who do not want peace and stability to return to Afghanistan”. He said the return of Afghan refugees to their homeland with dignity and honour should be an essential part of the peace negotiations. “We look forward to consultations in the SCO-Afghan Contact Group to further facilitate the Afghan peace and reconciliation process,” he added. In a series of tweets later, he said: “In today’s environment, full of zero-sum prophecies, it is cooperation not confrontation that should drive international politics. Multilateral platforms like SCO thus exist as beacon of hope.”