Tashkent (TDI): Pakistan’s Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Muhammad Mudassir Tipu, met with senior officials of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO RATS), underscoring Islamabad’s active role in the body’s counter-terrorism agenda.
The Deputy Director, SCO RATS Executive Committee, Naveed Anjum, and the Referent, Executive Committee of the RATS, Adeel Farooq, were received at the Pakistan Embassy in Tashkent, where the RATS headquarters are situated.
The meeting focused on the ongoing work under the SCO anti-terrorism framework, and Pakistan’s role as it currently holds the chairmanship RATS. The conversation assumed even more significance owing to the fact that Islamabad is set to take over as the chair of the SCO.
In September, as Kyrgyzstan will host the SCO Heads of State Summit as the current chair of the organization, the chairmanship will be handed over to Pakistan for the whole next year.
“Appreciated the Secretariat’s continued efforts in advancing regional cooperation against terrorism, separatism, and extremism,” Ambassador Tipu wrote about his meeting with RATS officials.
Met with Mr. Naveed Anjum, Deputy Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), and Mr. Adeel Farooq, Referent, Executive Committee, SCO RATS today. We discussed the important work being undertaken by the Organization and Pakistan’s… pic.twitter.com/z0jahon2Xi
— Ambassador Mudassir (@AmbMudassir) August 3, 2026
RATS is a permanent body established in Tashkent in 2004 for the coordination of information exchange, joint operations, and capacity-building among member countries aimed at combating the “three evils” terrorism, separatism and extremism.
It is based on the SCO Charter and the Executive Committee of the organization has always attributed coordinated action to the disruption of dozens of planned attacks and the subversion of hundreds of militants in the region.
Pakistan formally joined the SCO in 2017 and assumed the chairmanship of the SCO RATS for the 2025–26 term in September 2025.
The chairmanship has been followed by various activities in Islamabad, including cyber counter-terrorism, joint information operations, and border security all under the umbrella of the “Shanghai Spirit” of mutual trust and shared responsibility.
Pakistan describes itself as a “frontline state” in counter-terrorism and the SCO RATS platform offers a structured forum to coordinate with fellow member states – China, Russia, the Central Asian states and India on cross-border militancy.
That agenda sits alongside Pakistan’s concurrent non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2025–26, where counter-terrorism is also listed among its stated priorities.
Tayyaba Afzal is an International Relations Graduate from Lahore College for Women University. Her research interests include Information Warfare, AI Governance and Digital Diplomacy. She can be reached at [email protected]
