Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday raised the issue of terrorism as a major concern for member states at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and called for “meaningful” engagement with the Afghan Taliban government.

PM Shahbaz arrived in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana on Wednesday for a two-day official visit, representing Pakistan at the SCO meetings where leaders and diplomats from countries including China, India, Turkiye, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan have gathered to discuss economic and security cooperation.

During his official speech on Thursday, the prime minister emphasised the importance of maintaining peace in the region as a precondition for economic development.

“Achieving lasting peace in Afghanistan is a lynchpin to this common objective,” he said. “The international community must meaningfully engage with the Afghan government to meet their genuine economic and development needs.”

As for the Afghan government’s part, he said that they had to “take concrete measures” to ensure its soil is not used for terrorism against any other state.

“Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including state terrorism, must be condemned in clear and unambiguous terms,” PM Shehbaz stressed, adding that there was “no justification for killing innocent people or using the bogey of terrorism” for political point-scoring.

He also touched on the topic of globalisation and highlighted that leaders had the responsibility to rise above partisan geopolitics and join hands to secure a prosperous future for the people.

Regarding Pakistan’s role in regional trade connectivity, the premier said that the country’s location made it an “ideal trade conduit” for the region, adding that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) supplemented “SCO’s vision of regional connectivity and economic interaction”.

PM Shehbaz also advocated for promoting national currencies for mutual settlements within the region to avoid global financial shocks, adding that alternative funding mechanisms would give impetus to different development projects in the SCO region.

The prime minister added that Pakistan would do “its utmost to provide impetus to collective efforts to raise living standards in the SCO region” while talking about the rise in political and military conflicts across the globe and consequent hike in food and fuel prices which have “seriously affected members’ ability to address poverty”.

Separately, in a post on X, PM Shehbaz highlighted he “called for resolution of long-standing disputes through UNSC resolutions” and “strongly urged for peace in Gaza as well as peace and stability in Afghanistan”.

Summarising his speech, the premier said he “called for collective action for socioeconomic development, enhanced connectivity, maintaining peace and security, combating terrorism, dealing with climate change, alleviating poverty, and above all, ensuring observance of principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and right to self-determination”.

“Pakistan looks forward to welcoming the SCO family at the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Islamabad this October,” the prime minister added.

PM meets Belarus president

Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz also met with Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko on the sidelines of the SCO summit.

Both leaders noted positive growth in all aspects of bilateral relations over the past decade and reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation as well as economic and trade relations, Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

Political relationships, trade and investment, military cooperation, and regional issues were among numerous issues discussed, the report said.

It added that the premier highlighted Pakistan’s policy of economic revival through export-led growth, strengthening of public finances, and attracting investment from friendly countries.

In a post on X about the “cordial meeting”, the prime minister noted he congratulated President Lukashenko on Belarus’ membership of the SCO.

Both sides also exchanged views on regional and international developments, he added. “Delighted that President Lukashenko has accepted my invitation to undertake an official visit to Pakistan soon.”

According to state-run Radio Pakistan, PM Shehbaz also met other global leaders, including United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon and Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov.

PM suggests Putin to renew trade barter system

On Wednesday — the first day of his two-day trip to Kazakhstan — PM Shehbaz met Russian President Vladimir Putin and called for overcoming financial and banking issues between the two countries by renewing and expanding trade under a barter system.

Speaking during their meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit, the premier recalled how Pakistan and Russia used to have a bilateral trade and a barter system in the 1950s and 1960s.

“I think today is the time we can overcome financial and other banking issues by renewing our trade and expanding our trade under a barter,” PM Shehbaz told President Putin. “That will be very beneficial to Pakistan and we will able to overcome many problems.”

In his remarks, President Putin said Pakistan and Russia enjoyed cordial re­­lations which had impro­ved due to the trade linkages.

Putin said both countries could enhance their cooperation in energy and agriculture and expressed his readiness to promote cooperation with Pakistan in the field of food security.

Tripartite mechanisms proposed

Separately, PM Shehbaz also proposed to establish tripartite institutional mechanisms, particularly in economic and investment areas to strengthen Pakistan-Turkiye-Azerbaijan economic and commercial cooperation.

Sharing his views during an inaugural session of the Pakistan-Turkiye-Azerbaijan Tri­lateral Summit held on the sidelines of the SCO Summit, he underscored that Pakistan de­­eply valued its fraternal ties with Azerbaijan and Turkiye based on mutual respect and support for each other on core issues.

In his meeting with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, PM Shehbaz expressed confidence that operationalisation of the prefere­ntial trade agreement and Pakistan-Uzb­ekistan transit trade agree­ment would further enhance economic relations between the two nations.

Karachi Port’s connectivity to Tirmez was also discussed to enhance bilateral trade.