ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will interact with world leaders today, Sunday, as the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit kicks off in Tianjin with several world leaders expected to attend. 

More than 20 foreign leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, will attend the regional security bloc’s largest meeting since it was founded, China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin said this week. 

The SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, with 16 more countries affiliated as observers or “dialogue partners.” China has long sought to present the SCO as a counterweight to Western-led power blocs and has pushed for greater collaboration between its member states.

A statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said Sharif was expected to address students at Tianjin University, which would be broadcast by the state-run media. 

“The prime minister will also hold a bilateral meeting today with the esteemed President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” the PMO said. “Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will attend the reception of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit this evening in Tianjin.”

Sharif, who arrived in China on Saturday, will remain in the country till Sept. 4 to hold talks with senior Chinese leadership, including the country’s President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang, an earlier statement from the foreign office said. 

China has long been Pakistan’s largest investor and its closest strategic ally, anchored by the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Both sides are working to advance into “CPEC 2.0,” focused on industrialization, agriculture, energy and connectivity.

During the visit, the Pakistani prime minister will also chair the second Pakistan-China B2B Investment Conference in Beijing on Sept. 4 to boost trade and investment ties, the PM Office said in an earlier statement on Saturday. 

Sharif also visited China in June 2024, where he held talks with the Chinese president in Beijing, toured cultural and educational sites in Xi’an, and announced that 1,000 Pakistani students would receive agricultural training in China.

Last year’s trip included meetings with leading Chinese companies in the energy and technology sectors, as the government sought to attract foreign investors to explore manufacturing and other opportunities in Pakistan.

This visit will see Sharif participate for the first time in a regional gathering of world leaders with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, after Pakistan’s brief military confrontation with India in May this year. 

An attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on Apr. 22 sparked the worst fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbors in decades during May. The four-day military conflict left over 70 people on both sides dead as they pounded each other with missiles, drone strikes, artillery fire and fighter jets before Washington brokered a ceasefire on May 10. 

Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar visited the Luban Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Exhibition Hall in Tianjin where he was briefed on the operations of the workshops there and their existing cooperation with Pakistan, the foreign office said. 

Dar spoke about scaling up joint efforts in technical and vocational education in new and emerging industries. 

“He emphasized that strengthening TVET collaboration between Pakistan and China is a vital step to create opportunities for sustainable economic growth,” the foreign office said. 

“The Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister further noted that this cooperation not only enhances Pakistan’s human capital but also contributes to the broader Pakistan-China All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership,” it added.