New Delhi: Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will lead a delegation to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Foreign Ministers (SCO CFM) meeting to be held on 4 and 5 May in Goa.
Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahrah Baloch said Thursday that Zardari would be attending the meeting at the invitation of the current chairman of SCO CFM, Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar.
Baloch added: “Our participation in the meeting reflects Pakistan’s commitment to the SCO Charter and processes and the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities.”
India had invited Pakistan’s foreign minister in January, days after its Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif called for talks over all outstanding issues, including the disputed Kashmir region.
Zardari’s visit to India will be the first by any Pakistani leader after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2014.
The SCO is a regional political and security bloc whose members include Russia, China, India and Pakistan. There are four “observer” states — Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia; and six dialogue partners — Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
India became a full member of SCO on 9 June, 2017 and since has maintained an active engagement with the organisation. New Delhi has focused on initiating proposals for mutual benefit of SCO member states, observers and dialogue partners.
India assumed the rotating presidency of the SCO at the 2022 SCO Summit held in Samarkand in Uzbekistan and is the current chair.
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