Beijing, China - Recent (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Interview in progress

FILE: Islamabad, Pakistan - Oct 13, 2024 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of SCO logo on street

Beijing, China - Recent (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistani Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives (ending with shot 4):
"I think one very important lesson of our times is that these challenges that we are discussing are now cross-border challenges. They are global challenges. They are regional challenges. No single country can fight them on its own. So the solution to most of these problems is more collaboration. Solution to conflicts is not fighting wars. It is through engagement, through dialogue. Every conflict can be solved by dialogue."
4. Interview in progress

FILE: Tianjin Municipality, north China - July 23, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Sign of Inter-Civilizational Dialogue among SCO Countries 2025

Beijing, China - Recent (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistani Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives (starting with shot 5/ending with shot 7):
"If we pick up arms, if we promote conflicts that will eventually threaten the whole world because we have seen that conflicts while they take place in one region can impact the whole of the world by disrupting either value chains or disrupting supply chains or disrupting peace."
7. Interview in progress

FILE: Qingdao City, Shandong Province, east China - June 2018 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Decoration and sign reading SCO

Beijing, China - Recent (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistani Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives (partially overlaid with shots 10-11):
"So therefore under SCO, we do hope that the regional conflicts can be solved through dialogue, through greater support by SCO member countries to bring conflicting parties on table. So I think maybe SCO can play a role in bringing about de-escalation in different parts of the world through promoting dialogue through its platform."

++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
FILE: Tianjin Municipality, north China - July 23, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
10. Various of Inter-Civilizational Dialogue among Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Countries 2025 in progress, attendees

Beijing, China - Recent (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
11. Interview in progress
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++

FILE: Beijing, China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
12. SCO logo

FILE: Beijing, China - July 15, 2022 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
13. Flags of SCO member states

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) offers a platform for the peaceful resolution of regional conflicts, said Pakistan's Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives.

In an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Minister Ahsan Iqbal said regional and global challenges require dialogue, not war.

"I think one very important lesson of our times is that these challenges that we are discussing are now cross-border challenges. They are global challenges. They are regional challenges. No single country can fight them on its own. So the solution to most of these problems is more collaboration. Solution to conflicts is not fighting wars. It is through engagement, through dialogue. Every conflict can be solved by dialogue," said Iqbal.

"If we pick up arms, if we promote conflicts that will eventually threaten the whole world because we have seen that conflicts while they take place in one region can impact the whole of the world by disrupting either value chains or disrupting supply chains or disrupting peace," the minister warned.

Iqbal said he believes the SCO's security mechanism can play a role in addressing conflict.

"Therefore, under the SCO, we do hope that the regional conflicts can be solved through dialogue, through greater support by SCO member countries to bring conflicting parties on table. So I think maybe SCO can play a role in bringing about de-escalation in different parts of the world through promoting dialogue through its platform," he said.
China is set to play host to the biggest ever edition of the SCO Summit, which is scheduled for August 31 to September 1 in the northern port city of Tianjin, bringing together leaders from over 20 countries and representatives from 10 international organizations for a series of high-level events.

The SCO, established in 2001 in Shanghai by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, has expanded from a regional organization into a trans-regional organization with 10 full members, two observer countries, and 14 dialogue partners, covering over 60 percent of the Eurasian landmass and nearly half of the world's population.