Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has urged the revival of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Contact Group on Afghanistan, highlighting its potential to support lasting peace and stability in the region.
Speaking at the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in China on Tuesday, Dar emphasized that peace in Afghanistan remains a collective responsibility of all SCO members. He proposed reactivating the Contact Group as a results-driven platform for regional collaboration to aid Afghanistan’s path toward peace, development, and reintegration.
Originally set up in 2005, the SCO Contact Group was designed to deepen engagement on Afghan affairs, hosting multiple sessions across member states including China and Russia. Despite renewed calls in 2018 to restart its work, the group’s activities have remained dormant. Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, Afghanistan’s participation in international forums like the SCO has also been paused.
Afghanistan began engaging with the SCO as a guest in 2004 and was granted observer status in 2012, aiming to enhance regional cooperation and tackle common threats such as terrorism, extremism, and narcotics.
On broader security issues, Dar issued a firm warning about the persistent threat of terrorism, condemning all its forms, including state-sponsored acts. He stressed that no country should use terrorism as a tool to achieve political objectives, and instead called for a unified, root-cause-focused strategy to counter extremism.
Dar, who also holds the post of deputy prime minister, praised the SCO for serving as a stabilising force amid growing global volatility. He lauded its emphasis on sovereign equality, peaceful conflict resolution, and inclusive dialogue, presenting it as a positive contrast to confrontation-based approaches.
He concluded by reiterating Pakistan’s dedication to fostering peaceful and cooperative relations with all its neighbours.
