India’s Jaishankar joins regional leaders in Pakistan for SCO summit

ISLAMABAD: India’s Minister for External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday, marking the first time a foreign minister from his country visited Pakistan since 2015, to attend the 23rd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) Council of Heads of Government with other regional leaders amid stringent security measures. 

The two-day summit is scheduled for Oct. 15-16, and the government has announced a three-day public holiday in Islamabad, which began on Monday, with schools and businesses closed due to security concerns ahead of the high-profile event.

State-run Pakistan Television (PTV) showed images of Jaishankar being greeted by Pakistani officials on the runway after his plane touched down near Islamabad just before 3:30 pm. 

While Chinese Premier Li Qiang is already in Islamabad, the Prime Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Akylbek Zhaparov, and Tajikistan, Qohir Rasulzada, arrived today. The Prime Ministers of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, along with Iran’s First Vice President are also expected to arrive later in the day.

Issuing the schedule for the SCO meeting, Pakistan’s Foreign Office stated that all delegates would arrive in Islamabad on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Sharif hosting a dinner for them in the evening. 

“On October 16 [Wednesday], Prime Minister Sharif will chair the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of SCO member states and deliver the opening remarks, followed by statements from the leaders of participating countries,” the Foreign Office said.

The documents reflecting the outcomes of the meeting will also be signed during the session, which will conclude with Sharif’s closing remarks.

Foreign office said Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming will interact with media to share out after the concluding session on Wednesday.

Sharif is also expected to hold meetings with regional leaders on the sidelines of the event. SCO leaders will adopt important organizational decisions to further enhance cooperation among member states and approve the inter-governmental body’s budget during the summit.

Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang arrived in Islamabad on Monday to attend the SCO meeting, marking the first time in 11 years that a Chinese PM has visited the country. Qiang oversaw the signing of several cooperation agreements with Pakistan on trade and investment and virtually inaugurated a China-sponsored international airport in the port city of Gwadar.

PAKISTAN’S SECURITY WOES

Pakistan is wary of security troubles ahead of the key regional summit, with the South Asian country witnessing a surge in attacks recently. A suicide attack in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi on Oct. 6 killed two Chinese engineers and injured 10 others, raising questions over Islamabad’s ability to host the conference.

Pakistan army troops will be responsible for the security of the capital’s Red Zone, the location of the parliament and a diplomatic enclave and where most of the meetings will take place, according to the interior ministry.

A decades-long insurgency in Balochistan by separatist militant groups has led to frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region to press demands for a share in mineral-rich regional resources. China has frequently urged Pakistan to ensure security for its citizens.

Islamabad is also battling a surge in militancy in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan where Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants have increased attacks against security forces since November 2022 after a fragile truce between both sides broke down.

Pakistan blames the Afghan government for sheltering TTP militants who launch attacks on its soil, a charge Kabul has repeatedly denied.