In an interview with CGTN Digital reporter Shen Shiwei, Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan's minister for planning, development, and special initiatives, praised the SCO's role in promoting de-escalation through dialogue on its platform. "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 and regional challenges. No single country can fight them on its own. So the solution to most of these problems is more collaboration," he said.