By Rahim Hayat Qureshi

ECO, Into the Future Together

TEHRAN - In 1964, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey came together and formed the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD). It was a visionary initiative as the regional economic groupings were not in fashion. At a time, when the world was bereft of global and regional vision and shared solutions, RCD called for effective multilateralism at the regional level and played its part as a pivotal coordinating Organization. The idea was to convert historical affinity and brotherhood among the three countries into a well-defined multilateral platform. It was envisioned that the primary focus would be on promotion of economy through trade and connectivity as well as further strengthening of the cultural bonds. Over the past four decades, ECO’s voice in regional affairs has attained distinct significance.