Terrorism fight still SCO's remit

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, founded in 2001, focuses on reinforcing security measures against terrorism, extremism and separatism. This allows SCO member states such as China and Pakistan to play an important role within the organization to combat the "three evils", particularly through the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, which is central to the SCO's counterterrorism strategy. Through the said mechanism, member states engage in counterterrorism initiatives and share information to mitigate terrorism challenges.

With regard to counterterrorism, Pakistan's geographical position and role are crucial given its involvement in megaprojects such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is seen as a "demonstration project of multilateral Belt and Road Initiative", as stated recently by visiting Chinese Premier Li Qiang during his interaction with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

With SCO already emphasizing the importance of combating terrorism at the recently held summit in Astana, counterterrorism remained high on its agenda during the Islamabad meeting as well.