Nawaz leaves for Norway

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who left for Norway on Monday, would subsequently be visiting Russia to participate in Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) Summit on July 9-10 where he is expected to meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Friday.
Sources at PM House confirmed that the Prime Minister would be flying directly from Norway to Russia to attend the SCO Summit, where according to Indian media reports, the two premiers will meet on July 10 on the sidelines of the Summit. However, media office of the Prime Minister stated that they were not privy to such a meeting.
Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khailullah last week said that no side has approached the other for a meeting between the two premiers. However, he added that meetings between heads of state and government are a routine practice. The Summit, which is taking place in the Russian city of Ufa, is also expected to consider applications submitted by a number of states including Pakistan and India for the SCO full membership.
At the invitation of the Russian President, the Prime Minister will also attend the Outreach meeting in Ufa of the leaders of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, SCO member and observer states, Eurasian Economic Union Members, and Turkmenistan. The Prime Minister will also hold important bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Ufa.
In Norway, the Prime Minister will participate in the Oslo Summit on Education for Development taking place on July 6-7. However, the India Prime Minister would not attend the Norway Summit, as he was on a scheduled visit to central Asian countries from Monday. Prime Minister Sharif will address the Education Summit, which would be opened by Norwegian Prime Minister together with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.
Leaders from all over the world will meet to demonstrate their support for a joint effort to promote education in countries affected by conflicts, crisis and poverty. The Summit is designed to mobilise strong and renewed political commitment to reach the 58 million children who are still being denied their right to education, and to improve learning outcomes for those who attend school. Nawaz Sharif, during his three day stay is also expected to hold delegation level talks with his Norwegian counterpart and meet Crown Prince of Norway Haakon Magnus.
Sources at Prime Minister Office maintained that these meetings would provide the premier an opportunity to discuss bilateral as well as global and regional issues with the Norwegian leadership and his trip would help strengthen the existing bilateral ties between Pakistan and Norway.
Participants of the summit include Rwandan President Paul Kagame, the Prime Ministers of Haiti, Niger and Pakistan, the Foreign Ministers of Niger and Palestine, and the education ministers of around 10 countries. In addition UNHCR, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNFPA and the ILO will take part in the Summit, as well as UN Special Envoy for Global Education and co-host of the Summit Gordon Brown.
Graça Machel from the UN MDG Advocacy Group will also attend, as will Julia Gillard, chair of the board of the Global Partnership for Education, and representatives of the private sector, including Telenor and the Minecraft in Education initiative. The secretary generals of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children Norway and other civil society organisations will be at the Summit, as will representatives of the World Bank, the African Union, and the African Development Bank.