ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will attend the 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) virtual summit which would be hosted by India in July, the country's foreign office spokesperson confirmed on Thursday but stopped short of saying whether PM Shehbaz Sharif would attend it or not.
The SCO is a political and security bloc that includes Russia, China, and Pakistan, among other countries. Since September, India has been the chair of the multi-nation organization. After hosting a summit for foreign ministers in May, the South Asian country would host a virtual summit on July 4.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari attended the SCO summit which was held i Goa during May, making it the most senior-level trip by a Pakistani foreign office official since 2016. While many hoped the visit would help break the ice between India and Pakistan, Bhutto-Zardari and his counterpart from India traded verbal jabs at the summit.
"We have received the official invitation from the Indian Prime Minister for our Prime Minister for the virtual meeting of the Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that is due to take place on the 4th of July," Pakistan's foreign office spokesperson said during a weekly press briefing.
"Pakistan will be represented at the summit," the spokesperson confirmed, adding that the foreign office would issue a statement about Pakistan's participation "in the coming days."
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since becoming separate nations in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan Muslim-region of Kashmir, which both claim in full but rule in part. New Delhi has for years accused Islamabad of backing separatists in the Indian-governed part of Kashmir. Pakistan denies the allegations, and leveled similar accusations at India.
