The National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. (Retd) Nasser Khan Janjua represented Pakistan at the meeting of the Secretaries of National Security Council of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States held in Beijing on 21-22 May 2018. The meeting was attended by representatives of National Security Councils SCO member states including Pakistan, China, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. This was the first time that Pakistan participated in this meeting after joining SCO as full member in June 2017. Addressing the meeting, the National Security Adviser General Janjua highlighted that as a new Member State of SCO, Pakistan fully subscribed to the Organization’s ideals and objectives for durable peace, stability and prosperity in the SCO region and beyond. He stated that given the scale and dimension of security challenges in the SCO region, Member States should enhance cooperation and develop comprehensive strategies to effectively counter the old and new threats to regional peace and security. He stressed that the fight against terrorism should be waged on the basis of norms and principles of international law; terrorism should not be associated with any religion, nationality or ethnicity; and all efforts against terrorism must be devoid of bias and “double standards”. Underscoring Pakistan’s commitment to the fight against terrorism and its achievements, the National Security Adviser said that over the last two decades, Pakistan has been at the forefront in fighting terrorism and had paid a heavy cost. However, neither the human nor the financial losses had diminished Pakistan’s resolve to fight this menace. General Janjua underscored the significance and urgent need to find an early settlement to the decades old conflict in neighboring Afghanistan. In this context, he assured that Pakistan would continue its efforts and cooperation for finding a peaceful and negotiated settlement to the Afghan conflict, under an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process. He also assured of Pakistan’s cooperation and participation in all regional efforts to counter the menace of narcotics and illicit drugs in the region. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Secretaries signed the outcome document of the meeting. The Secretariat of the SCO issued a press release informing about the decisions made in the outcome document and expressing the common resolve of SCO countries to tackle the threats of terrorism and extremism in the SCO region. Later in the day, General Janjua along with Secretaries of other SCO member states paid a group call on President Xi Jumping in which they briefly exchanged views on regional security issues and SCO’s planes and activities to address the prevailing challenges in the region. On the sidelines of the SCO meeting, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Janjua also held bilateral meetings with the Secretaries of the National Security Council of Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. During these meetings, issues pertaining to bilateral security cooperation and mutual interest were discussed. *-*-*-*
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