7 PMs, one VP, Indian minister arriving to attend SCO meeting

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office Saturday announced seven prime ministers, one vice-president and a lone minister of external affairs will arrive in Islamabad next week to attend the 23rd meeting of Council of Heads of Government (CHG) of Member States of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Pakistan is hosting for the first time a meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation from October 15 to 16. The CHG is the second highest decision-making body of SCO.

Prime Minister of China Li Qiang and Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin will be joined by their counterparts from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Also attending the CHG will be the First Vice-President of Iran and External Affairs Minister of India Dr S Jaishankar.

Prime Minister of Mongolia (Observer State) and Deputy Chairman of Cabinet of Ministers and Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan (Special Guest) will also participate in the meeting.

Afghanistan will not be attending the CHG because the SCO Secretariat, which is the primary executive body headquartered in Beijing, has not sent Kabul an invitation to attend.

In his capacity as the current Chair of CHG, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will preside over the meeting, said the Foreign Office.

“Since becoming a member in 2017, Pakistan has worked consistently and constructively to strengthen good neighbourly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation among SCO member states. Hosting of CHG by Pakistan reflects the abiding commitment of Pakistan to the purposes and principles of SCO Charter and the values of Shanghai spirit,” the statement added.

The leaders at the meeting of CHG will adopt important organisational decisions to further enhance cooperation among the SCO member states and approve the budget of the organisation.

The CHG meeting will also discuss the ongoing cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, environment and socio-cultural linkages, and review the performance of the organisation.

The SCO summit meets with the federal government taking enhanced security measures and deploying more than 10,000 police and paramilitary personnel for the security of about 900 delegates, who will arrive in Islamabad from October 14. Security teams of the participating member states have already arrived in the capital. The prime minister will also hold bilateral meetings with visiting Heads of Delegations on the sidelines of the meeting, stated the Foreign Office. But it did not clarify if this also included a bilateral meeting with the Indian External Minister Dr S Jaishankar. When asked, the Foreign Office responded to The News, “There is no such plan”.