ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will attend a two-day Foreign Ministers Council meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Monday in Kazakhstan’s Astana city, state media reported, where he is expected to hold bilateral meetings with counterparts. 

Founded in 2001, the SCO is a major trans-regional organization spanning South and Central Asia, with China, Russia, Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan as its permanent members. The SCO member states collectively represent nearly half of the world’s population and a quarter of global economic output. 

The event will be attended by foreign ministers of the SCO member states, the SCO secretary-general and director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) Executive Committee, the organization said. 

“Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar will represent Pakistan at two-day meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, beginning at Astana in Kazakhstan tomorrow,” the state-run Radio Pakistan said on Sunday. 

It said Dar would also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines of the meeting. 

The SCO said one of the main items on the agenda will be the “comprehensive preparations” for the July meeting of the SCO Heads of States Council. During the foreign ministers’ meeting, the heads of the delegations will exchange views on international and regional agendas, security issues and the development of political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation within the SCO, the organization said. 

“Participants will also sign several resolutions regarding the final documents of the upcoming SCO summit and adopt a communique,” the SCO said. 

The SCO’s agenda of promoting peace and stability, and seeking enhanced linkages in infrastructure, economic, trade and cultural spheres, is aligned with Pakistan’s own vision of enhancing economic connectivity as well as peace and stability in the region. 

Since becoming a full member of the SCO in 2017, Pakistan has been actively contributing toward advancing the organization’s core objectives through its participation in various SCO mechanisms.

During his visit to China last week, Dar also met SCO Secretary-General Ambassador Zhang Ming and reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to the organization’s charter and its ideals, the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement.