Islamabad, 15 Oct. 2024 (APP)

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hosted dinner in honour of SCO delegates this evening in Islamabad.

Foreign leaders from Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member States have arrived in Islamabad for a significant two-day regional summit, chaired by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.

Key attendees include leaders from China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Tajikistan, India, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and others.

Dignitaries were warmly welcomed at the airport, marked by traditional attire, flowers, and a red carpet, reflecting the event’s significance and the strong bonds between the nations.

Pakistan took over the rotating chair of the SCO CHG for 2023-24 at the Bishkek meeting on October 26, 2023, represented by interim Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani.

The SCO meeting, a prominent Eurasian security and political organization established in 2001 by Russia and China, is the most significant event Pakistan has hosted in recent years.

Among the leaders arrived yesterday in Islamabad included Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang; among arriving today included Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin; Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov;  Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai; Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov of the Kyrgyz Republic; Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko; and Tajikistan’s Prime Minister Kohir Rasulzoda.

Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar arrived at Nur Khan air base in Islamabad, he was warmly welcomed by Director General for South Asia Ilyas Mehmood Nizami; Rashid Meredov, Deputy Chairman, Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan; and  Syed Mohammad Atabek, the Iranian Minister for Industry and Trade, was welcomed by Ministry of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary for Afghanistan and West Asia, Ahmed Naseem Warriach,