ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office said on Saturday a senior judge of the apex court virtually attended a meeting of top judicial officials of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which will conclude in New Delhi on Sunday.
The development comes at a time when Pakistan has downgraded its diplomatic relations with New Delhi since the revocation of the special constitutional status of Indian-administrated Kashmir in August 2019.
“[Honorable] Justice Munib Akhtar represented [Pakistan] virtually at SCO Chairmen of Supreme Courts meeting held in New Delhi, speaking on Facilitating Access to Justice,” the foreign office said in a Twitter post. “In his statement, he expressed support for rule of law & for promoting accessibility of legal systems in SCO member states.”
The SCO is an inter-governmental organization whose permanent members include China, Russia, Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
India, being the current president of the regional forum, is set to host a number of SCO of events this year, including the ongoing meeting of chief justices of the member states.
It also extended the invitation to Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial who could not join the meeting.
Foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told a local newspaper, Express Tribune, the chief justice would not be able to attend the SCO meeting “due to unavoidable commitments on the scheduled meeting dates.”
She added Pakistan was one of the active SCO members which regularly participated in all of the group’s activities and constructively contributed to their outcomes.
India has also invited Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting scheduled to be held in Goa in May. However, Pakistan is yet to decide whether the minister will attend the meeting or not.
