Daily Times

Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, on Tuesday signed the Economic Cooperation Organization’s (ECO) charter on clean energy to enhance regional cooperation for transition to sustainable energy, the Pakistani foreign ministry said.

The ECO is a political and economic intergovernmental organization that promotes economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among member states. Founded in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkiye, the ECO aimed to succeed the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD), which existed from 1964 to 1979.

The ECO’s objectives include contributing to the development of member states, removing trade barriers within the ECO region, developing intra-regional trade, promoting the ECO region’s integration with global markets and strengthening cultural and historical ties among member states. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said the ECO clean energy charter would contribute to the global network of regional sustainable energy centers under the framework of the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All Initiative.

“The charter is a flagship initiative of ECO in the energy sector which will focus on research & development for innovative renewable clean energy sources to combat climate change [and] play a bridging role in enhancing regional cooperation for smooth transition to sustainable energy,” it said in a statement.

Dar signed the charter at the 28th meeting of the ECO Council of Ministers in Mashhad, Iran, where he also held a bilateral meeting with Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi. “During the meeting, they exchanged views on areas of mutual interest and the latest regional and global developments,” Pakistan’s state-run APP news agency reported. “Both countries agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in all spheres.”

The meeting came weeks after Araghchi’s visit to Islamabad to hold consultations with Pakistani leaders on the Middle East situation following Israel’s invasion of Gaza and Lebanon, and to discuss bilateral ties. Separately, Dar held meetings with ECO Secretary General Dr. Asad Majeed and Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu to discuss the latest regional and global developments, and platforms to boost inter-regional connectivity and trade cooperation among ECO members.