And what can be termed an achievement on the part of our Information Minister, Qamar Zaman Kaira, was his courageous refocusing on Pakistan's sufferings on account of terrorism. It was, in fact, an attempt of a nation that has suffered at the hands of an international phenomenon but, unfortunately, it did not receive the desired level of cooperation from the international community that would match the level of its (Pakistan's) sacrifices.
Kaira said: "the SCO members are aware that Pakistan has been a victim of terrorism for the past two decades. We have fought war against the forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism. Almost 40,000 Pakistani civilians and military personnel have lost their lives and it has also immensely hampered our economic growth and cost us almost 80 billion US dollars".
Here, the minister was also trying to remind the SCO members of their moral, regional obligations towards such a large chunk of population inhabiting this region of which Pakistan is an important part. Many people opine that it was a wise decision on the part of Islamabad government to send a vocal, confident person like Kaira to represent the country at such an important forum. Kaira really proved his mettle at Bishkek as he took up almost all the issues of concern to the region, to the SCO and to the entire world of today.
And while committing to engage more with SCO in financial and banking sectors besides participating in new initiatives in energy, transport and telecommunication, Information Minister expressed his belief that with its experience, SCO could play an important role in promoting peace and stability as it also possessed the capacity and expertise for evolving regional mechanisms for combating the emerging security and politico-economic challenges. He also pressed upon Pakistan's formal request for full membership for which it applied to the Organisation in 2010 while being the first Observer State to do so.
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