Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar Friday said that Pakistan remained committed to upholding Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO’s) development strategy objectives, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The minister expressed these views while addressing the 9th Ministers of Justice meeting of the SCO held here virtually. He said that SCO represented the ambitions of the Member States to build prosperous and sustainable partnerships for promoting common values, interests, and opportunities.

The objectives of the SCO were in complete harmony with the foreign policy goals of the Government of Pakistan, which focus on peace, stability, and development, he added.

Azam Nazeer said that Pakistan remained committed to upholding these shared objectives including playing an effective role in the promotion of cooperation in the field of law and justice.

He said that SCO is also a dynamic platform to forge ties with regional partners and Pakistan would continue cooperation on forensic activities, legal services, and supremacy of rule of law in order to achieve the goals of this august forum.

He said that Pakistan believed that the future of our region, and the world, would feature unprecedented interdependence and enhanced cooperation.

Accordingly, promoting friendly relations and strengthening regional cooperation through enhanced connectivity and people-to-people contacts would help us achieve and confront common objectives and challenges.

The minister said that the coincidence of double hazards of floods and COVID was a challenging problem. Since the beginning of 2020, many regions around the World especially the SCO region had been experiencing this double hazard of serious flooding and the pandemic.

Pakistan too was badly affected by COVID and the recent flooding. Around 33 million people, including approximately 16 million children, have been affected by this year’s unprecedented heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan, which led to the destruction of homes, farms, and critical infrastructure including roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, and public health facilities.

He said it was imperative that the SCO Member States should forge partnerships, revise environmental legal frameworks and formulate combined strategies to effectively combat the crises caused by the pandemic and the environmental challenges.

At the heart of this approach must be sustained education and communication, especially among the users of natural resources, about the laws and procedures that are needed and that are set in place to facilitate effective enforcement and compliance.

He said that forensic science had become a critical element of the criminal justice system as forensic scientists examine and analyze evidence from crime scenes and elsewhere to develop objective findings that could assist in the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of crime or absolve an innocent person from suspicion.

He said that the development of the legal systems including legal education of the SCO Member States was also an important aspect and Pakistan looked forward to cooperating in the promotion and development of the Organization’s legal system.

Accordingly, Pakistan was actively participating in the activities of the Expert Working Groups on forensic activities and legal Services including the draft SCO Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil Cases. He said that the last decade had seen an increase in respect for the rule of law.

Pakistan is also determined to achieve the objectives of the SCO Development Strategy until 2025 through a series of actions that include increasing interaction with fellow SCO Member States, strengthening regional and bilateral cooperation, and establishing mutually beneficial contacts.