PTI urged to take back protest call as Pakistan set to host SCO summit

ISLAMABAD: In view of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday urged the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to withdraw its October 15 protest call in the “larger national interest”.

The deputy PM's remarks came as the country is all set to host Council of Heads of Government (CHG) of the SCO meeting slated to be held on October 15 and 16 in the federal capital wherein significant issues would be discussed under the SCO framework.

Talking to journalists after his visit to review arrangements for the upcoming CHG-SCO meeting, Dar said that for the sake of politics, it was not good for the political party that had been repeating the same scenario of 2014. Due to their protest, Chinese president’s visit had been postponed.

It had already crossed all the red lines in the past and attacked the state institutions, Dar observed and stressed upon its leadership to rectify its wrong decision.

The deputy PM said that certain countries had requested for bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the CHG-SCO which were finalised.

Replying to a query, Dar said that India had not requested for such bilateral meeting and only the matters related to SCO framework would be discussed by the SCO member states at the multilateral forum.

About invitation to Afghanistan, the deputy prime minister said that since 2021, the Observers Status of that country had been virtually suspended as Afghanistan had neither been invited to nor participated in SCO meetings.

Therefore, he said, Pakistan could not take decision alone in this regard as the decisions were taken on the SCO forum by the member states.

Dar, to another question, said Pakistan is a host to CHG-SCO and would fully meet the responsibility.

About the North-South and South-South connectivity, he said the discussions with the relevant countries were in progress and continuing on the bilateral and multilateral levels.

But within the SCO framework and protocol, certain matters would be discussed under specific scope of discussions and within its contours, he further clarified.

He said that the entire region required integration and peace and it was the core objective of the PML-N leadership including former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, besides it was also included in the PML-N manifesto.

He enumerated the incumbent government’s efforts to bring down inflation ahead of the target set for the next year.

Dar advised those quarters who had been claiming that Pakistan was in diplomatic isolation to reassess their projections as Pakistan had become a hub of regional trade and investment and referred to the recent visits of Malaysian premier and the Saudi delegation.

With the SCO member states, matters related to the trade and commerce had also been discussed continuously, he added.