BEIJING: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday slammed last month’s attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran as “unacceptable” as he attended a ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in China’s Tianjin.
The SCO is a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members include China, Russia, Pakistan, India, and Iran. The group’s foreign ministers meet as a precursor to the annual summit of its leaders, which will be hosted by China this autumn in Tianjin.
On June 13, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Iran that targeted military and nuclear sites as well as residential areas, and killed senior military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. The attacks began days before a planned meeting between Tehran and Washington aimed at reviving nuclear negotiations. The US, which had been in talks with Iran since April 12, joined Israel in carrying out its own strikes on June 22, targeting Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz. Iranian authorities say the Israeli strikes killed at least 1,060 people.
Addressing the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers today, Dar said: “We have strongly condemned the unjustified and illegitimate aggression by Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the US strikes on its nuclear facilities. Such illegal actions directed against SCO member states are unacceptable.”
Continuing his criticism of Israel, he said: “Israel has shown a reckless disregard for international norms and humanity through its relentless and disproportionate use of force in Gaza, resulting in the death of tens of thousands of civilians causing the worst humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We call for immediate halt to Israel’s atrocities. The only viable remedy to Palestine dispute is the realisation of two-state solution which includes the establishment of Palestine as a viable, secure and contiguous state on the basis of pre-1967 borders with Al Quds as its capital.
“Unilateral and illegal measures to change the status of disputed territories in violation of UN Security Council resolutions must be strongly condemned and opposed by all.”
Dar said Pakistan was “increasingly concerned at the trends of using aggression as a tool of policy.”
Instead, he called for the resolution of longstanding disputes through peaceful means, dialogue, diplomacy and according to the principles of international law, justice and fairness.
On regional issues, FM Dar said Pakistan sought a relationship of peace and stability with all its neighbours.
“However, the last three months witnessed extremely disturbing developments in South Asia. It is most unfortunate that the attribution of the Pahalgam Attack to Pakistan — without a credible investigation or verifiable evidence — brought the two nuclear-armed states to the brink of a major conflict. In the wake of mounting tensions, Pakistan’s restrained and responsible approach was met with legal transgressions, rhetorical belligerence, and strategic recklessness.
“Pakistan remains steadfast in its commitment to the ceasefire and the cultivation of a stable regional equilibrium. However, we cannot accept that the arbitrary use of force is normalised. We believe that disputes and differences are resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, instead of conflict and coercion. In that backdrop, initiation of a comprehensive and structured dialogue can meaningfully address the full spectrum of issues that have long bedevilled the peace and security in South Asia. Strict adherence to bilateral agreements would be equally important in this regard.”
He said the events unfolding in the region since the April 22 terrorist attack in India-occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam reaffirmed a “central truth” of South Asian geopolitics: the peaceful settlement of longstanding unresolved disputes was “imperative for an enduring peace” in the region.
Dar added that enduring peace and stability in Afghanistan also constituted a cornerstone of the SCO members’ shared aspiration. He pointed out that the revival of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group could serve as a valuable platform for pragmatic and results-oriented cooperation.
“Terrorism is the common concern of humanity that threatens global security. All forms of terrorism, including state terrorism are condemnable. We must shun the use of terrorism for political purposes and combat this menace through a cooperative approach, including addressing its root causes.”
He said the SCO was a vital platform for realising the benefits of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), pointing out that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship BRI project, not only supplemented the SCO’s vision of regional connectivity and economic integration but also complemented its common objective of shared development and prosperity.
“We need to take concrete steps within existing SCO’s mechanisms for trade and development and promote the use of national currencies for mutual settlement within SCO region to avoid international financial shocks. We support the proposal to create SCO alternative development funding mechanism to give needed impetus to various stalled development initiatives.
“As the permanent chair of the SCO’s Special Working Group dedicated to combatting poverty, Pakistan is fully committed to providing the necessary momentum to our collaborative endeavours to address poverty.”
Dar called on the SCO members to also collectively address the “existential threat” of climate change.
“At a time when the global order is experiencing profound challenges, SCO has emerged as a stabilising force. Its inclusive approach underscoring the sovereign equality of states and seeking peaceful resolutions to disputes, offers a compelling alternative to aggression, confrontation and zero-sum rivalries. The SCO’s commitment to consensus, development, and mutual respect is a beacon of hope for building a better and equitable world.”
Stressing Pakistan’s commitment to the organisation and its principles, Dar said: “In our pursuit to peace and security, we believe in non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs, non-use of force or threat of its use in international relations, as well as seeking no unilateral military superiority in the region.”
In a post on X after the meeting, Dar said: “At the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting today, we reaffirmed our shared commitment to multilateralism, mutual respect and regional stability. The Shanghai Spirit continues to guide us towards dialogue, mutual trust and the pursuit of a more just and inclusive international order.”
Earlier today, Dar met with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing as he represented Pakistan in a joint call of the SCO foreign ministers.
In a post on X, the deputy PM said he was “delighted” to meet with Xi and conveyed the “warm greetings of the leadership, government and people of Pakistan”.
“As iron-clad brothers and all-weather strategic cooperative partners, we remain committed to deepening Pak-China enduring friendship and advancing shared regional goals,” he posted on X.
The Chinese president, welcoming the heads of delegations, underlined the “salience of regional cooperation” under the ambit of the SCO, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa).
Shortly later, Dar arrived in Tianjin along with other foreign ministers to lead Pakistan’s delegation to the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting, according to Mofa.
The deputy premier arrived in Beijing last night, where he was received at the airport by Ambassador Yu Hong and other senior officials of the Asian Affairs department of China’s Mofa, as well as Pakistan’s ambassador to China, Khalil ur Rehman Hashmi.
India’s Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Russia’s Sergei Lavrov and Iran’s Abbas Araghchi are among the top diplomats arriving in Beijing for the SCO moot.
Dar also met with the foreign ministers of various SCO member states on the sidelines of the joint call on Xi.
“Always good to exchange views for strengthening regional understanding and cooperation in such a challenging time,” he said on X about his meeting with his Iran, Uzbekistan and Belarus counterparts.
“Both leaders reviewed bilateral cooperation across diverse areas and discussed the evolving regional situation following the recent Israeli aggression against Iran,” the Foreign Office said of FM Dar’s meeting with his Iranian counterpart.
Da also met Russian FM Sergei Lavrov. “Both sides expressed satisfaction over the positive trajectory of bilateral ties and agreed to further enhance cooperation in trade, energy, agriculture and defence,” the FO said, with Dar reiterated the invitation for FM Lavrov to visit Pakistan.
In separate meetings with Kazakhistan FM Murat Nurtleu and Kyrgyzstan’s Zheenbek Moldokanovic, Dar and the ministers reaffirmed a commitment to the enhancement of positive bilateral ties and expanding collaboration across areas of interest.
According to an earlier statement from the Mofa, Dar is set to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the SCO member states during his visit to China.
