By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will join a virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on July 4, hosted by India, which chairs the regional security and economic bloc this year, the foreign office said on Friday.
The SCO is a political and security union of countries spanning much of Eurasia, including China, India and Russia.
‘‘The invitation to the Prime Minister to attend the SCO-CHS was extended by the Prime Minister of India in his capacity as the current Chair of the SCO,’’ the FO said in a statement.
Iran will also be welcomed as a new member of the organisation at the summit, the ministry said.
The leaders will discuss global and regional issues and determine the future course of cooperation among the SCO member states, it said.
“The Prime Minister’s participation in the summit illustrates the high importance that Pakistan attaches to the SCO, as an important forum for regional security and prosperity, and enhanced engagement with the region,” it added.
China’s President Xi Jinping will also attend and deliver a speech via video link on July 4.
Formed in 2001 by Russia, China and former Soviet states in Central Asia, the body has been expanded to include India and Pakistan, with a view to playing a bigger role as counterweight to Western influence in the region.
Kazakhstan will take over the presidency of the SCO after the July summit.
The theme of the summit is ‘Towards a SECURE SCO’. The SECURE acronym stands for Security; Economy and Trade; Connectivity; Unity; Respect for Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity; and Environment.
Earlier this year, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari attended an SCO meeting and reiterated Pakistan’s belief in the “principles of mutual trust, equality, respect for cultural diversity, and the pursuit of shared development enshrined in the original ‘Shanghai Spirit’”.
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