Bilawal takes political leadership into confidence over India visit

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday took the political leadership into confidence ahead of his visit to India to lead Pakistan’s delegation to the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization scheduled to take place in Goa from 4-5 May 2023.

The foreign telephoned various leaders of different political parties including Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Siraj ul Haq, Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leader Khalid Magsi, National Party (NP) leader Tahir Bizenjo and others to take them into confidence about his India’s visit which is being held at the context of SCO.

According to a statement of his media office, Bilawal held consultations with the political leaders and also apprised them of his opinion about the visit. The political leaders also conveyed their respective parties’ positions about the visit.

Bilawal is leaving for India today (Thursday) on a two-day visit to participate in the SCO’s CFM at the invitation by the Minister for External Affairs of India, as the current chair of the SCO.

In addition to deliberating upon important regional and international issues and signing some of the institutional documents, the CFM will finalize the agenda and decisions to be adopted by the 17th SCO Council of Heads of State Meeting scheduled to take place in New Delhi on 3-4 July 2023.

The CFM will also witness signing of MoUs with five countries namely Bahrain, Kuwait Maldives, Myanmar and UAE to become Dialogue Partners of SCO.

The Foreign Minister will also meet with his counterparts of friendly countries on the sidelines of the CFM.

Besides Pakistan, SCO member States include China, Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and India.

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 the fields of politics, trade and economy, culture, science and technology, education, energy, transportation, tourism, environmental protection etc.

Since becoming a member in 2017, Pakistan has been actively and constructively contributing in all SCO activities to realize its multi-sectoral aims and objectives in a mutually beneficial manner.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023