Uzbekistan supports Pakistan's full membership in SCO

Visiting Uzbek President Islam Karimov has said that his country supports Pakistan's full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), according to a report Wednesday in the Pakistani daily Nation.

Karimov made the remarks at the press conference late Tuesday after formal talks with his Pakistani counterpart General Pervez Musharraf at the presidential palace.

During the one-on-one meeting, the two leaders discussed various bilateral, regional and global issues with focus on the global war on terror, according to officials.

Later, talking to the newsmen, the two presidents expressed their resolve to expand economic ties.

The two leaders said that Pakistan and Uzbekistan would coordinate their efforts in fight against terror, which they believed was vital for the common goal of sustainable peace, security and regional development.

Musharraf thanked Karimov for Tashkent's expression of support to Pakistan in securing full membership of the SCO.

Musharraf said that Pakistan would develop rail and road links with Uzbekistan as part of its efforts to take bilateral trade to new levels, access would be provided to Uzbekistan to the world through Pakistani ports.

The two presidents, earlier, oversaw inking of a series of agreements and MoUs on intensifying bilateral cooperation in a number of fields including trade and economic relations and fighting international terrorism, according to officials.

Karimov, who arrived Tuesday in Islamabad for a two-day visit, said that Uzbekistan fully supported Musharraf's vision of enlightened moderation as a way out of international turmoil.

He also backed Musharraf's efforts aimed at making the Organization of Islamic Conference a dynamic body.

Referring to Pakistan's key geo-strategic location, Karimov said that development of communication links between Uzbekista and Pakistan and stability in Afghanistan would enable his landlocked country to have access to other regions through Pakistani ports of Gwadar and Karachi.

Source: Xinhua