Qureshi attends Moscow meeting of SCO Council of FMs today

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi will attend the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Foreign Ministers (SCO-CFM) being held in Moscow from September 9 to 10. The invitation to the foreign minister to attend the SCO-CFM was extended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who would also chair the meeting, the Foreign Office said in a statement on Tuesday. The SCO-CFM is the highest forum of SCO after the Council of Heads of State (CHS) and the Council of Heads of Government (CHG). It deliberates on important regional and international issues, and considers documents for approval and adoption by the Council of Heads of State. The Moscow SCO-CFM will consider more than 20 documents for subsequent adoption in the SCO Council of Heads of State. It will also adopt a Joint Communiqué reflecting member states’ unified stance on important regional and international issues. Foreign Minister Qureshi will also have bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the CFM. SCO’s major objectives include promoting mutual confidence and good-neighbourly relations among member states; strengthening regional peace, security and stability; and creating a framework for effective cooperation in political, cultural, trade and economy, science and technology, education, energy, transportation, tourism, environmental protection and other fields. Besides Pakistan, SCO’s current membership comprises China, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. SCO is an important forum for Pakistan to further enrich deep-rooted historical and cultural links with member states, providing the ties a sound economic foundation, and promoting it as a regional trade and transit corridor. Since becoming a member in 2017, Pakistan has been actively contributing in working towards achieving the SCO’s multi-sectoral agenda through

participation in various SCO mechanisms. From 2005 to 2017, Pakistan was an observer in the SCO.