ISLAMABAD:Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar reached Moscow on Monday to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting in Moscow from November 17-18.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, senior officials from the Russian Foreign Ministry, and officials of the Pakistan Embassy welcomed DPM Dar upon his arrival at the airport.
DPM Dar is leading the Pakistani delegation at the meeting, following an invitation from Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
According to the Foreign Office, the meeting will be attended by the heads of government of Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, alongside the vice president of Iran and the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India.
Representatives from Mongolia, Bahrain, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait and Turkmenistan, as well as leaders of regional organisations, including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Euro Asian Economic Union (EAEU), Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), will also attend the meeting, the statement said.
“In his address to the SCO CHG, the deputy prime minister will share Pakistan’s perspective on important regional and global issues as well as ways to strengthen the Organisation for the benefit of the SCO region,” it added.
The CHG is the second-highest decision-making body within the SCO and oversees cooperation in areas such as economy, finance, trade, connectivity, commerce and socio-economic development, including the organisation’s budget. It also adopts joint communiqués, statements and key decisions.
The FO added that Dar will hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of other SCO countries on the sidelines of the CHG to discuss matters of mutual interest.
Earlier this year, the SCO summit was held in Tianjin, China, from 31 August 31 to September 1.
In September, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that Pakistan would host the next SCO summit.