Khurram Dastgir arrives on Monday to participate in SCO Defence Ministers’ meeting

BEIJING: Federal Defence Minister, Engr Khurram Dastgir Khan will arrive here on Monday on a two-day official visit to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) scheduled to be on Tuesday.

On the first day of his visit, the minister will hold a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe and discuss ways and means to further enhance defence cooperation between the two countries, official sources confirmed here on Saturday.

Khurram Dastgir along with defence ministers of other SCO-member states will hold an important group meeting with Chinese President, Xi Jinping.

The defence minister is also likely to hold separate bilateral meetings with defence ministers of SCO countries on the same day.

On the second day, the defence minister will visit Tiananmen Square and present flower basket at the monument of People’s Heros.

Khurram Dastgir will lead Pakistani delegation at the meeting of defence ministers of the SCO member-states.

He will also witness the ‘Peace Horn’ military music festival. Pakistan’s tri-forces military band is also taking part in the festival.

The SCO, an inter-governmental organization, founded in China's Shanghai on June 15, 2001, now includes China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and India as full members.

Pakistan and India were admitted as full members of the organization at the summit in Astana last year.