LAHORE: A delegation of Pakistan Railways returned from India on Saturday after attending a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) railways committee during which member states agreed to increase rail connectivity and improve the existing infrastructure for the sustainable development of rail transport.

The meeting adopted the ‘Work Plan of the Meeting of the Heads of SCO Railway Administrations for 2023-25’ along with a draft action plan for the implementation of the ‘Concept of Interaction between SCO Railway Administrations until 2025’ and the draft of ‘Initiative Council of the SCO Heads of Government’ to promote quality and sustainable development of international rail transport in the member states.

During the discussion, the SCO Secretariat was represented by Deputy Secretary-General Sohail Khan who stressed the relevance of the initiatives from the SCO member states in railway transport and noted the importance of coordinated work in overcoming the consequences of the pandemic to restore stable operations, as well as in the processes of updating and digitising the industry.

Delegations from SCO member states Pakistan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan participated in the discussion on issues related to the safety of passengers, freight networks, existing rail infrastructure, connectivity via rail among SCO member states and the use of modern technology to improve operations.

Pakistani delegation returns from New Delhi after attending three-day meeting that adopts work plan

A railways official, who was a part of the Pakistani delegation, told Dawn that the meeting was held in New Delhi from May 8 to 10 after a gap of two years. Railways Secretary Syed Mazhar Shah headed the delegation. The trip was approved by the Foreign Office, Ministry of Railways and PM’s Office.

During the first two days, experts discussed matters related to strengthening and expanding the rail network, the safety of passengers, construction of state-of-the-art freight terminals and one-window operation for resolving such issue, the PR official explained.

On the third day, secretaries of the member states’ railway departments held consultations on the policy framework determined in the preceding meeting of the experts.

Speaking to Dawn, the official who was part of the Pakistani delegation said all participants unanimously supported the proposals to improve railway services, keep safety as the top priority, strengthen existing railway lines, construct new tracks to connect SCO member states and bring innovative interventions to improve the freight sector.

“I term the meeting successful, as it will help us improve our rail services,” he added.

The SCO secretariat also issued a statement after the meeting. It said the fourth meeting of the SCO Heads of Railway Administrations took place in New Delhi, led by India.

“During the meeting, the heads of the delegations discussed the implementation of the final resolutions of the third meeting [in Dushanbe] and the development and improvement of multimodal transport and modern logistics centres.”

The delegations “considered priority areas for the construction of new railway lines connecting the SCO member states” and measures taken by the SCO railway administrations during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2023