Jaishankar, seven PMs to attend SCO meet at Islamabad next week

Islamabad: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and prime ministers of China and Russia among others will attend the two-days SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting here next week to discuss the ongoing cooperation in economy, trade and environment, Pakistan said on Saturday.

Pakistan is hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting on October 15 and 16 and in his capacity as the current Chair of the CHG, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will preside over the summit, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.

“SCO member States will be represented by the Prime Ministers of China, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as well as the First Vice President of Iran and External Affairs Minister of India,” it said.

The CHG meeting will discuss ongoing cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, environment, socio-cultural linkages and review the performance of the Organisation. The leaders will adopt important organisational decisions to further enhance cooperation among the SCO member States and approve the budget of the Organisation, it added.

Announcing the level of participation for the 23rd meeting of the CHG, the FO statement further said that the Prime Minister of Mongolia will attend as an observer while the deputy chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Foreign Ministers of Turkmenistan will participate as special guest.

Prime Minister Sharif will also hold important bilateral meetings with visiting heads of the delegations on the sidelines of the main meeting, the FO statement added.