ISLAMABAD: All eyes are on Islamabad as the highly-anticipated 23rd meeting of the Council of the Heads of Government (CHG) of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as the regional leaders have started arriving at the event’s venue.
The summit being hosted by Pakistan — after assuming the rotating chair of the SCO CHG for 2023-24 at the previous meeting held in Bishkek in 2023 — is being attended by top officials from member countries.
Those attending include Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang, Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin, Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Aref, and most notably, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar — first such visit by an Indian foreign minister in almost 10 years.
The event has garnered more attention with Jaishankar’s participation as the nuclear-armed arch-rivals continue to have frosty relations.
The SCO member states are China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Iran and India, while 16 other countries are affiliated as observers or “dialogue partners”.
Besides them, Mongolia is participating in the summit as an Observer State, represented by Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai and Turkmenistan as Special Guest represented by Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Rashid Meredov.
Among other dignitaries attending the moot include SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming, Director of Executive Committee SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) Ruslan Mirzayev, Chairman of the Board of SCO Business Council Atif Ikram Shaikh and Chairman of the Council of SCO Interbank Union Marat Yelibayev.
The largest delegation is from the Russian Federation. The Russian delegation arrived in Pakistan in two groups. Over 58 Russian journalists are part of the Russian prime minister’s delegation.
The visiting regional leaders have today gathered at the Jinnah Convention Centre to discuss ongoing cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, environment and socio-cultural linkages and review the performance of the Organisation.
During the summit, the leaders will adopt important organisational decisions to further enhance cooperation among the SCO member states and approve the budget of the Organisation.
The proceedings of the moot will start with PM Shehbaz’s opening remarks before the statements by the participating leaders.
The prime minister will deliver his concluding remarks after the signing of different documents by the participating leaders.
Afterwards, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, along with SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming will deliver media statements to discuss the highlights and outcomes of the two-day summit.
PM Shehbaz will also host an official luncheon today for the participating leaders.
The government has taken stringent security measures to ensure the smooth conduct of the SCO meeting. The capital city has been shut down for the two-day summit with more than 9,000 police officers deployed alongside security forces.
Roads have been blocked off, restaurants closed and public holidays announced in an attempt to restrict movement in the capital and the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi.
A day earlier, PM Shehbaz Sharif hosted the welcome dinner for the dignitaries participating in the moot.
Indian FM’s rare visit
Jaishankar arrived at an airbase near Islamabad on Tuesday afternoon, where he was met by a low-level delegation, unlike other leaders who were welcomed by senior ministers.
Hours after his arrival, Indian FM Jaishankar was greeted by PM Shehbaz, with a handshake followed by an exchange of sombre expressions between the two at the start of an official dinner for the visiting leaders of the bloc.
Relations between the two nations have been particularly sour since 2019 when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the limited autonomy of Indian-administered Kashmir.
Modi’s 2019 move led Islamabad to suspend bilateral trade and downgrade diplomatic ties with New Delhi.
Jaishankar’s visit comes nine years after former Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj visited the country in 2015 for a summit on Afghanistan.
Modi also made a surprise visit to Pakistan that year, shortly after taking office for his first term, sparking short-lived hopes of a thaw in relations.
Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was in Goa last year — also a rare visit — for an SCO meeting, where he and Jaishankar were involved in a verbal spat.
It was the first official visit by a senior Pakistani official to their eastern neighbour since 2016, but the two foreign ministers did not hold a one-on-one meeting.
The neighbouring governments have said that no bilateral meetings have been requested, and Jaishankar’s visit will strictly follow the SCO schedule.
This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.
