© Agence France-PressePakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (right) met with Iranian President Hassan Rohani (left) at the 10-nation Economic Cooperation Organization summit in Islamabad
Islamabad hosted the day-long Economic Cooperation Organization summit on March 1.
"There has never been a more opportune time to realize our dreams of connectivity for regional prosperity," said Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
"We are determined to collectively face challenges such as extremism, terrorism, and drug trafficking in order to realize our vision of making the region a zone of peace and prosperity," he said. "We have committed ourselves to working together for bringing progressive change to the lives of the people in our region, transforming it into a bastion of peace, progress, and prosperity."
Iranian President Hassan Rohani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were among the heads of states who attended.
Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan founded the organization in 1985, which now includes most central Asian states.
Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan, Omar Zakhilwal, said peace and stability in the region will enable nations to achieve economic goals.
The conference took place under tight security after a wave of recent suicide bombings by various militant groups killed more than 125 people across Pakistan.
Comment: Regional economic coordination makes much more sense. The US will have to get over not being able to dictate everything. These mid-level partnerships may help push the interfering neocons out of the region. That being said Erdogan's vision creating a neo-Ottoman empire (headed by
ErdoganTurkey of course) make make things rough going.