Pakistan all set for SCO summit as delegates start arriving

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar Sunday said Pakistan was ready to host the SCO summit on October 15-16 in Islamabad in which significant issues would be discussed under the SCO framework.

Talking to the media here after reviewing arrangements for the upcoming CHG-SCO meeting, he said certain countries had requested for bilateral meetings on the sidelines of CHG-SCO, which had been finalised, reports APP.

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

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar also accompanied him during a walk with media persons to provide them with first-hand information about the summit preparations.

About an invitation to Afghanistan, Dar said since 2021, the Observers Status of that country had been virtually suspended and neither Afghanistan had been invited to nor participated in the SCO meetings. Therefore, he said, Pakistan could not take the decision alone in this regard as decisions were taken on the SCO forum by the member states.

Dar, to another question, said Pakistan was hosting CHG-SCO and would fully meet the responsibility.

About the North-South and South-South connectivity, he said discussions with the relevant countries on bilateral and multilateral levels were continuing, but within the SCO framework and protocol, certain matters would be discussed under specific scope of discussions and within its contours.

He said the entire region required integration and peace and it was the core objective of the PMLN leadership, including former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, and it was also included in the PMLN 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 trade and commerce have also been discussed continuously, he added. About the Palestine issue, he said Pakistan had been vociferously raising it at all the global fora which included the prime minister’s address at the UNGA, Pakistan’s efforts at the OIC and other international fora where they had effectively raised the Palestine, Gaza and Lebanon issues.

Pakistan has sent 10 consignments of humanitarian assistance to Palestine and further steps are on the anvil, he added

To a query, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister urged a specific political party without naming it to take back its call for protest on October 15 in the larger national interest. He said for the sake of politics, it was not good for the same political party that had been repeating the same scenario of 2014. Owing to their protest, the Chinese president’s visit had been postponed.

During the all-parties conference on Gaza, the same political party did not attend it, he said, adding what message, they wanted to give?

“It has 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 and call off its protest on 15 October in the larger national interest.

Meanwhile, Premier of the State Council of China Li Qiang will be the first prime minister to arrive here on Monday (today) on a four-day bilateral visit, reports Mariana Baabar.

He will also head the Chinese delegation on the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and will be accompanied by ministers and senior officials, including from the ministries of foreign affairs and commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission and the China International Development Cooperation Agency.

The Foreign Office announcing the visit commented, “Premier Li’s visit to Islamabad is an expression of the importance attached by Pakistan and China to their all-weather strategic cooperative partnership. It will be an occasion for the two sides to reaffirm mutual support on issues of core interest and advance high-quality development of CPEC”.

Li will spend a busy day today, as Pakistan sees this as an occasion for the two sides to reaffirm mutual support on issues of core interest, as well as reinforce exchanges on important regional and global developments. Monday’s meeting will also see Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Premier Li Qiang lead their respective delegations to comprehensively discuss all aspects of Pakistan-China relations, including economic and trade ties and cooperation under CPEC.

The Chinese premier will also call on President Asif Ali Zardari and hold meetings with parliamentary leaders and senior military leadership of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, talking to the foreign media in Islamabad, Tarar said the SCO summit will prove a game changer for Pakistan and help promote its economic and regional relations, reports Mumtaz Alvi.

“Pakistan is committed to promoting trade and peace in the region, following a liberal policy regarding trade and investment. Pakistan is emerging at the international level as the visit of prime minister of Malaysia was successful and bilateral relations, investment and cooperation were discussed during the visit.”

He said the prime minister of Malaysia assured of an increase in Pakistan’s exports, including rice and halal meat, and that the relations between the two countries would be strengthened further.

Tarar said the visit of the Saudi delegation led by the minister of investment was a success and $2.2 billion worth of memorandums of understanding were signed with Saudi Arabia. He pointed out the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had showed interest in increasing trade with Pakistan.

The minister of information said inflation had decreased to 6.9 percent while the trade deficit has been continuously decreasing. He said exports had increased by 14 percent.

Tarar said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Tajikistan was very useful. “Chinese prime minister’s visit to Pakistan will prove to be a game changer regarding CPEC, whereas good progress is being made in the second phase of CPEC.

Tarar said Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang could inaugurate operations at a $200 million Chinese-funded airport in Balochistan, a foreign news outlet quoted Tarar as telling reporters in the federal capital.

The $200 million Gwadar International Airport will handle domestic and international flights, according to Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority, and will be one of the country’s biggest airports.

Meanwhile, planes carrying foreign delegations are touching down here ahead of the SCO summit. According to the airport sources, a 4-member official delegation from India had reached Pakistan, says a news report.

Russia’s 76-member delegation, China’s 15-member delegation, Kyrgyzstan’s 4-member delegation, Iran’s two-member delegation and a delegation of SCO comprising seven members have arrived here.

The summit will be held in Islamabad between October 15 and 16, in which 200 delegations from different countries will participate.

In a related development, the authorities are preparing to shut down the capital ahead of the summit, reports AFP.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will be among senior regional government officials attending the two-day conference.

In the weeks leading up to the summit, the authorities have cracked down hard on dissent, banning an ethnic nationalist movement and introducing new laws that restrict protest in the capital. They have also arrested hundreds of supporters of jailed opposition leader Imran Khan who attempted to march in Islamabad this month.

A deadly attack on a convoy of Chinese engineers in the mega port city of Karachi last week has also deepened security fears in a country where separatist groups routinely target Chinese nationals. Islamabad has authorised the deployment of troops on the streets during the summit.