Pakistani, Indian foreign ministers call for collective action to address challenges

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan / NEW DELHI, India (AA) – The foreign ministers of Pakistan and India on Friday urged the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to take collective actions to tackle collective challenges faced by the region and the world.

Speaking at the SCO Foreign Ministers’ summit at the resort city of Goa in India, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the solution to "collective challenges should be collective action, not a divided reaction."

"While our problems may seem immense, I believe as a united human race we have the capacity to not only deal with the challenges but to learn lessons for our collective good, and build in the resilience that will equip us to address future challenges," he said.

It is the first trip to India by any Pakistani foreign minister in over a decade.

Speaking on challenges posed by climate and terrorism, Zardari said Pakistan was "badly affected" by the twin challenges.

"Our planet can only be saved from the ravages of climate change if the international community works in unison. For Pakistan, this is today’s problem. We recently faced the greatest climate catastrophe we have ever witnessed," he said.

The top Pakistani diplomat urged the SCO member countries that the security problem is their joint responsibility as terrorism continues to threaten global security and "let’s not get caught up in weaponizing terrorism for diplomatic point scoring."

He also urged the world community to continue meaningful engagement with the interim Afghan government as the situation in Afghanistan presents new challenges as well as opportunities.

"After being the playground for great powers, time and time again, we owe it to the people of Afghanistan to not repeat the mistakes of the past," he said.

Later speaking to reporters, Zardari said that the onus was on India to build a “conducive environment for talks” after the Indian government scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, according to the local daily Dawn.

Relations between the two nuclear neighbors have been at an all-time low since Aug. 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government scrapped Article 370 and Article 35A of the Indian Constitution, which granted Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir special status and imprisoned several Kashmiri leaders.

Subsequently, Islamabad suspended all exports and trade relations and reduced diplomatic ties with New Delhi.

He also criticized New Delhi for holding G20 Leaders' Summit in Jammu and Kashmir and said it shows India’s "arrogance and violation of international law" as Kashmir is a disputed territory, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

-‘Kashmir's special status now a history’

Responding to Zardari’s comment, India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Pakistan has nothing to do with India holding the G20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing a press conference on Friday evening, he said: "I don't think there is a G20 issue to debate with anyone. Jammu and Kashmir was, is, and will be part of India, and G20 meetings are held in all Indian states and union territories, so it is completely natural that it is held there.”

“There is only one issue to discuss on Kashmir which is when does Pakistan vacate its illegal occupation of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. That is the only issue up for discussion," the minister said.

He said Kashmir's special status, which was abrogated in 2019, is now a "history."

Earlier addressing the summit, Jaishankar said as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and geo-political upheavals, the world is today facing a multitude of challenges.

"These challenges, however, are also an opportunity for member states of the SCO to collaborate and address them collectively. With more than 40% of the world's population within the SCO, our collective decisions will surely have a global impact," he said.

He also stated that while the world was engaged in facing COVID-19 and its consequences, the "menace of terrorism continues unabated."

"Taking our eyes off this menace would be detrimental to our security interests. We firmly believe that there can be no justification for terrorism and it must be stopped in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism," he said, adding that the "unfolding situation in Afghanistan remains at the center of our attention."

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a Eurasian political, economic, international security and defense organization. It is the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographic scope and population, covering approximately 60% of the area of Eurasia, and 40% of the world population.

* Anadolu Staff contributed to the story