ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will be participating in the 20th Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State (SCO-CHS), being held in a video conference format on Tuesday (today), the Foreign Office said.
According to the Foreign Office spokesperson, Zahid Hafeez Chaduhri, the invitation to the prime minister to attend the SCO-CHS was extended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who would chair the meeting. He added that the leaders from all eight SCO member states and four observer states will attend, besides the UN secretary general and the secretary general of the SCO. The SCO-CHS is the highest forum of the SCO. It adopts documents and decisions that provide policy guidelines for determining priorities and major areas of activities of the Organization.
The 20th SCO-CHS will adopt 16 documents including Moscow Declaration reflecting member states' stance on important regional and international issues.
Besides Pakistan, the SCO's current membership comprises China, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The SCO's major objectives include promoting mutual confidence and good-neighbourly relations among member states, strengthening regional peace, security and stability, and creating a framework for effective cooperation in political, cultural, trade and economy, science and technology, education, energy, transportation, tourism, environmental protection, and other fields.
The SCO is an important forum for further enriching our deep-rooted historical and cultural links with member states, providing these ties a sound economic foundation, and promoting Pakistan as a regional trade and transit corridor.
Since becoming a member in 2017, Pakistan has been actively contributing to the promotion of the SCO's multi-sectoral agenda through participation in various SCO mechanisms.
In a statement, the SCO stated that the summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) would discuss the strengthening and further development of cooperation within the framework of the SCO, including in the context of the global political and socio-economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"They [SCO leaders] will focus on ways to promote the SCO member states' practical interaction in politics, security, trade and the economy, cultural and humanitarian ties, as well as political dialogue, above all in the interests of stability in the SCO space.
They will also discuss the enhancement of their countries' trade and economic collaboration and coordination at the main international venues," the statement added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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