Russia, Pakistan to engage SCO capabilities for Afghan settlement — Lavrov

 The top diplomat stressed that Russia and Pakistan share an opinion that cooperation via the SCO is a very promising format of multilateral, multipolar diplomacy

Russia and Pakistan agreed to engage the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) potential to assist the settlement in Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a press conference after the talks with his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Moscow on Monday.

"We have talked about the situation in Afghanistan a lot; this is directly connected to the goal of elimination of terrorist threats in our region. So far, unfortunately, it has not happened, but efforts are being made, and we agreed to engage the capabilities of the SCO to that extent as well - the SCO-Afghanistan contact group in particular," Lavrov said.

According to Lavrov, Moscow and Islamabad are mutually interested in development of cooperation via the SCO.

"We share an opinion that this is a very promising format of multilateral, multipolar diplomacy. The efficiency of this structure is confirmed by the growing interest from non-member states in closer cooperation with it and in becoming its members," the Foreign Minister concluded.

https://tass.com/politics/1569089