TASHKENT: President Mamnoon Hussain on Friday said Pakistan believed that effective border management at its border with Afghanistan is in the interest of both countries.

During a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, held here on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the president termed the recent events at Torkham as unfortunate and `against the spirit of good neighbourly relations and friendly cooperation.

President Mamnoon emphasised that `focus should be on addressing the issue through engagement and not hostilities`, an official from Pakistan delegation privy to the meeting said.

He said that comprehensive bilateral engagement in political, security, economic and people-to-people levels was in the mutual interest of the two countries.

Pakistan, he said, believed that a politically negotiated settlement remained a viable option for bringing lasting peace to Afghanistan.

ThePresident also stressed bilateraldialogue for sustainable repatriation of Afghan refugees and undocumented Afghans in Pakistan.

SCO membership Pakistan signed on Friday the Memorandum of Obligations to become a full member of the SCO a key security, economy and energy cooperation group comprising Russia, China and the countries of Central Asia.

President Hussain represented Pakistanat the signing ceremony at the 16th Heads of the State Council of the SCO held in the Uzbek capital.

The memorandum was jointly signed by the foreign ministers of six SCO member states, the secretary general of the organisation and the Prime Minister`s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.

`With signing of the document, Pakistan has achieved a milestone towards attaining full membership of the SCO,` Mr Aziz told APP.

He said the signing was continuation of Pakistan`s approval for membership during Ufa summit last year and was also an acl
He said Pakistan had a three-month deadline for fulfilling the formalities of 29 agreements, after which it would be given the status of full member at the SCO summit in Kazakhstan next year.

India also signed the memorandum along with Pakistan, which is part of the organisation`s steps towards expansion.

Mr Aziz said that in accordance with the `Shanghai Spirit`, every country had the moral obligation to maintain good relations with other member states.

`This sends a clear message to India that being on the path to attaining full SCO membership, it should maintain friendly relations with Pakistan,` he said.

Mr Aziz said Pakistan and India were two important countries of the region which had a population of around three billion and the SCO`s relevance in this scenario had increased.-APP