MONITORING (SW) – Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Zhaparov landed in Islamabad on Tuesday to attend a heads-of-government gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Pakistani government said, with the city under tight security lockdown.
The meeting of the SCO, a Eurasian security and political group formed in 2001 by Russia and China, is the highest profile event hosted by the troubled South Asian nation in years.
Chinese Premiere Li Qiang is already in Pakistan, while seven more prime ministers of other member and observer states, including Russian Premier Mikhail Mishustin, will also be participating in person.
The event has garnered more attention with India, Pakistan’s neighbour and arch-rival, sending External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the first Indian foreign minister to visit Pakistan in nearly a decade as relations remain frosty between the two nuclear powers.
The SCO also includes Iran, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Prime Ministers of Belarus and Mongolia are also attending.
While the main SCO meeting will take place on Wednesday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to host a welcome dinner for delegates on Tuesday. Pakistan’s Foreign Office said Sharif will also hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines.
The SCO meeting will discuss ongoing cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said. Observers believe the bloc seeks to counter Western influence in the region.
Pakistan’s government has announced a three-day public holiday in Islamabad, with schools and businesses shut and large contingents of police and paramilitary forces deployed.
Pakistani 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 SCO meetings will take place, according to the interior ministry.
The SCO leaders are expected to discuss cooperation in environmental, cultural, and social areas over the two-day summit. Other agenda items will include a review of the SCO’s annual performance and budget approval.
Previously, Afghanistan attended SCO meetings as an observer before the rise of the Islamic Emirate; however, in the past three years, the organization has not invited representatives from the de-facto government.
According to Pakistan’s Geo News, Afghanistan has not been invited to the 23rd SCO summit.
Hamdullah Fetrat, a deputy spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate, asserts that Afghanistan is still an observer member of the SCO and maintains good relations with its member countries.
