Most of SCO members keen to become part of CPEC : FM Bilawal

KARACHI, May 05 (APP): Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday said that most of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members are interested in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project and want to be part of it.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that he strongly presented the candid stance of Pakistan on all important issues in the SCO’s Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting held in Goa – India.

The Foreign Minister said this while talking to media at the Old Hajj Terminal-I here, on his arrival here after attending the SCO’s CFM meeting held in Goa – India.

Earlier, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Sindh Minister for Information Sharjeel Inam Memon, Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah along with other members of the Sindh Cabinet accorded a very warm welcome to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (BJP & RSS) are trying very hard to establish that all Muslims throughout the Globe are terrorists. The idea behind the step to attend the SCO CFM meeting on Indian soil was to break this myth, he added.

He pointed out that many candidates belonging to Hindu community contest the general elections in Pakistan on the tickets of the Pakistan Peoples Party – PPP but not a single Muslim candidate is elected in the Upper House or Lower House “Raj Sabah or Lok Sabah” in India on the ticket of BJP.

Speaking about the interaction with the Indian Media, he said he clearly conveyed the true picture and stance of Pakistan on all important issues to the people of India through Indian Media.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that he presented Pakistan’s point of view before all the members of the SCO on important issues, particularly, the Kashmir dispute.

He said that only a single party “BJP” is spreading the false propaganda and myth that all Muslims are terrorists but when Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was present among them in a meeting at their soil, it was a gesture to break this myth.

He said that Pakistan has given so many sacrifices in the war against terrorism, even the number of the Pakistanis fallen victims to this war would be more than the collective victims of all the countries.

The Foreign Minister told a questioner that the SCO was established in 2001 but Pakistan joined it as a member in 2017 and this forum is very important especially in the context of economic and regional integration and by the passage of time its significance would increase and it can become Regional Power House.

To another question, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that we want to settle all issues through the process of dialogue but India’s unilateral and illegal action of August 05, 2019 pertaining to the Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir was a clear violation of all bilateral and multi-lateral agreements as well as international laws, so any bilateral dialogue with India in such a situation will be futile.

But we believe that the dialogue is only way to settle all important issues including Kashmir, he reiterated.

The Foreign Minister said that people of the region want peace and one day, we will surely achieve this goal by the blessings of Allah.

To another question, he pointed that the table in SCO’s CFM meeting was not for bilateral dialogue and its objective was to improve economic and regional integration.

He told a question about the crisis in Sudan that around 150 Pakistanis who are stranded in Sudan will be brought back to the homeland with the help and coordination with our friendly countries and the officials of Pakistan’s foreign office have done remarkable job in this regard.