Islamabad, Sep 12 (PTI) As ministerial meetings began in Islamabad on Thursday to prepare for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit next month, Pakistan on Thursday said it was not sure about the level and mode of participation from India in the heads of state conference.
The SCO heads of state meeting would be held here on Oct 15-16 for which leaders of member nations have already been formally invited, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at the weekly press briefing here.
She said that the 23rd Meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Economic and Foreign Trade Activity of the SCO members began in Islamabad, and it was preceded by the meeting of the Commission of Senior Officials from September 10-11 to negotiate the documents to be adopted by the SCO members responsible for Foreign Economic and Foreign Trade Activities.
“The two-day Ministerial Meeting is a regular annual mechanism of SCO and will make important contributions in the lead-up to the Head of State Meeting in Islamabad,” she said.
As the process for the mega event kick-started, questions were asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend and whether his attendance would be in-person or in virtual mode.
Responding to one such question, the spokesperson said the Prime Minister of Pakistan had extended invitations to the Heads of government of all SCO member states. “At this point, I’m not aware of any communication from the Indian government regarding their representation,” she said.
To another question, she said that the Indian Vice Minister of Commerce and Industry was attending virtually the 23rd Meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Economic and Foreign Trade Activity of the SCO members. Apart from India, the Vice Minister of the National Economy of Kazakhstan was attending virtually.
Those attending in person include representatives from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Iran, the Kyrgyz Republic, China and Russia. Baloch also said that the SCO can make important contributions to the development and security of this region and Pakistan remains committed to working within the context of SCO to find solutions for regional prosperity.
The spokesperson also said that the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco, arrived in Pakistan last night for a three-day visit, which is the first-ever visit to Pakistan by any Secretary General of IMO.
Secretary-General Velasco will hold meetings with Pakistan’s leadership and senior government officials in Islamabad and Karachi.
Pakistan holds the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of Government and in that capacity, it will be hosting the two-day in-person SCO Heads of Government meeting in October.
With nine member states – India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyz, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – the Beijing-based SCO has emerged as an influential economic and security bloc and one of the largest trans-regional international organisations. Belarus joined as the 10th member. PTI SH ZH ZH
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