Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed foreign dignitaries, including India’s External Affairs Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, to a dinner marking the first day of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on Tuesday.
The SCO is a regional group that includes China, India, Russia, Pakistan, and several Central Asian countries. Pakistan became a full member in 2017, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is currently chairing the summit.
Footage from the event showed Prime Minister Shehbaz greeting and briefly conversing with Jaishankar, marking the first visit by an Indian official to Pakistan in almost a decade. However, Jaishankar has stated that he would not engage in bilateral talks during his visit, which is focused solely on the SCO meeting.
The summit has attracted high-profile leaders from several nations, including China’s Premier Li Qiang, who is visiting Pakistan for the first time in 11 years. Delegates from Russia, Iran, and other member and observer countries are also attending.
The summit proceedings, scheduled for Wednesday, include speeches from heads of state, group photos, and the signing of key documents. Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming will later brief the media.
Security has been heightened across Islamabad with over 10,000 personnel deployed to safeguard the event, as well as strict traffic control measures in place. The summit aims to foster regional cooperation and address important political and economic issues among the participating nations.
