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- The SCO is a major trans-regional organization and its member states collectively represent nearly half of world population
- Deputy PM Ishaq Dar will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts on sidelines of the SCO Foreign Ministers’ meeting
ISLAMABAD: Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, will attend a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Monday, Pakistani state media reported.
Founded in 2001, the SCO is a major trans-regional organization spanning South and Central Asia, with China, Russia, Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan as its permanent members. The SCO member states collectively represent nearly half of the world’s population and a quarter of global economic output.
The organization’s agenda of promoting peace and stability, and seeking enhanced linkages in infrastructure, economic, trade and cultural spheres, is aligned with Pakistan’s own vision of enhancing economic connectivity as well as peace and stability in the region.
The two-day meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers will begin in Astana on Monday, according to the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster.
“Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar will represent Pakistan at two-day meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, beginning at Astana in Kazakhstan tomorrow,” the report read.
“The Foreign Minister will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines of the Council of Foreign Ministers meeting.”
Since becoming a full member of the SCO in 2017, Pakistan has been actively contributing toward advancing the organization’s core objectives through its participation in various SCO mechanisms.
During his visit to China this week, Dar also met SCO Secretary-General Ambassador Zhang Ming and reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to the organization’s charter and its ideals, the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement.
“He expressed Pakistan’s strong commitment to advancing SCO’s security and development cooperation agenda,” the statement said.