Islamabad, Pakistan: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit will kick off on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 morning where Member States will be represented by the Prime Ministers of China, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan as well as the First Vice President of Iran and External Affairs Minister of India. Prime Minister of Mongolia (Observer State) and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan (Special Guest).
A Suadi Arabian delegation will also attend this event as an Observer, reports DND News Agency from Islamabad.
Two-day Summit SCO Summit 2024 has an agenda that includes:
Multilateral Cooperation: The summit will focus on enhancing multilateral cooperation among member states, discussing topical issues of regional and international importance.
Economic Cooperation: There will be discussions on economic collaboration, including trade and investment initiatives.
Security Cooperation: The meeting will address security concerns, including combating terrorism and enhancing regional stability.
Climate Change and Environmental Protection: Leaders are expected to discuss collaborative efforts to address climate change and promote sustainable practices.
Regional Stability: The summit will aim to strengthen regional stability and address ongoing conflicts to discuss combating Terrorism; economic Cooperation; climate change and environmental protection and strengthening multilateral dialogue.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office is confident to hold this event in a befitting manner while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally involved in the arrangements of the event has been holding meetings with Foreign Office staff, security agencies, and the administration of Islamabad. It has been noted that PM Sharif whose lifelong friend Ishaq Dar is deputy prime minister as well as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan expressed extreme interest in the success of the event and even asked the Foreign Office to arrange a maximum staff that is conversant in Iranian, Chinese, Russian, and Mongolian languages because other members state of Central Asian can understand the Russian language. Though Afghanistan is an Observer member of SCO its membership has not activated since 2012 when the Afghan Taliban took over Kabul therefore the SCO Secretariat has not invited the Afghan delegation to attend the event.
The biggest delegation is expected from Russia and over 70 members have already arrived in Islamabad. The prime minister of Mongolia (observer state), along with the deputy chairman of the cabinet of ministers will also attend the event while the Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan will attend as a special guest.
The Security
Pakistan’s government called the Pakistan Army to manage the security of the event under Constitutional Article 245. Thousands of policemen from Sindh and Punjab have been called to help the Islamabad police along with paramilitary forces such as Rangers. The government has already announced a three-day public holiday in Islamabad and Rawalpindi from 14-15 October and 16 October.
The Delegates
India which decided earlier not to attend the event is sending its Minister of External Affairs. A 76-member delegation from Russia and a 15-member delegation from China have already arrived in Islamabad. The Chinese delegation is arriving with 10 members.
Russia is showing much interest in this SCO Summit and the Ambassador of Russia to Pakistan, Albert P. Khorev has already expressed his appreciation for the extraordinary arrangements in Islamabad for holding the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government Summit.
Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, and Mongolia are attending with 15-plus member delegations.
