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PM Shehbaz hosts SCO dinner, welcomes state dignitaries

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed foreign dignitaries, including India’s Minister for External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, to the dinner for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) first day on Tuesday.

The SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus — with 16 more countries affiliated as observers or “dialogue partners”.

Pakistan became a full member of the SCO at its 2017 summit in Kazakhstan, which was attended by ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, who recently also expressed hope for reviving ties with India.

In his capacity as the current Chair of the Council of the Heads of Government (CHG), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will preside over the summit.

Right before the SCO dinner, footage from the venue showed PM Shehbaz welcoming and shaking hands with dignitaries, including India’s Jaishankar, with whom he held a brief conversation.

Jaishankar arrived in Pakistan today — the first such visit in nearly a decade. State-run PTV showed images of Jaishankar being received by the Director General for South Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ilyas Mehmood Nizami, and other Pakistani officials after his plane touched down at the Nur Khan Airbase just before 3:30pm.

Jaishankar’s own post on X about his arrival only mentioned the SCO summit.

Jaishankar not to discuss bilateral ties during moot

The Indian minister has said he would not discuss bilateral relations during his visit.

Jaishankar would “represent India at the meeting”, his foreign ministry said on Tuesday, adding that the country “remains actively engaged in the SCO format”.

“Even though it won’t be a fleeting visit as was previously thought, Jaishankar will likely spend not more than 24 hours in Pakistan before flying back to India,” Times of India reported.

PPP Chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, while speaking to Geo News, said that according to the rules of the SCO, country representatives cannot talk about bilateral issues during the summit.

“There are other forums where countries can talk about their bilateral matters,” Bilawal said.

When asked about a comment on India’s developing situation in Canada, Bilawal said that the accusations against the Indian government were “quite serious”, however, given that Pakistan was hosting the event and according to the country’s tradition of protecting the esteem of its guests, he would respect India and not give a detailed comment in that regard.

State heads, ministers arrive ahead of summit

From China, Premier Li Qiang will be attending the summit, with his Monday visit to Pakistan being the first by a Chinese premier in 11 years.

China, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will be represented by their prime ministers while Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref will be attending the summit, the Foreign Office has said.

PM Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene of Mongolia, an observer state, and Turkmenistan’s Foreign Minister Raşit Meredow will also participate in the meeting.

Around noon today, Kyrgyz premier, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Akylbek Japarov, arrived at the Nur Khan Airbase, where he was received by Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik, PTV News reported.

Shortly after, Belarus PM Roman Golovchenko landed at the Islamabad International Airport, where Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar welcomed him.

Tajik premier Kokhir Rasulzoda also landed at the same airport, where Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan greeted him.

FM Meredov of Turkmenistan, who is a special guest at the SCO, was received by Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui at the Islamabad airport, PTV News reported.

Summit programme

According to a programme for the summit released by the foreign ministry, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, today’s main event will be a welcome dinner by the prime minister.

Delegations will continue arriving today as well.

Once all the delegations have arrived, a flurry of activities is planned for throughout the day tomorrow, with the summit proceedings expected in the morning.

According to the programme, the participants will arrive on Wednesday morning at the Jinnah Convention Centre, where they will be received by PM Shehbaz.

After group photos, PM Shehbaz will give his opening remarks, which are set to be followed by statements from other member states. A notable agenda of the day is “documents signing” before the prime minister offers the concluding remarks.

In the afternoon, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming will brief the media about the highlights of the summit. This would be followed by “official luncheons” by PM Shehbaz.