ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday met with world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkiye’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the sidelines of a two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) Council of Heads of State (CHS), Sharif’s office said.

Sharif, who arrived on a six-day visit to China this week, was welcomed by President Xi Jinping at a banquet organized for leaders participating in the 25th SCO Council of Heads of States meeting in Tianjin.

The prime minister also held informal meetings with Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan’s Serdar Berdimuhamedov, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was seen receiving extraordinary warmth from world leaders,” Sharif’s office said. “The closeness observed in these meetings reflects the brotherly and friendly relations between Pakistan and these countries.”

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 regional group as a counterweight to Western-led power blocs and has pushed for greater collaboration between its member states.

On Sunday, Sharif held a meeting with Turkiye’s Erdogan, according to the former’s office. The two leaders condemned Israel’s “genocidal” policies in Gaza and vowed to advocate for Palestinian rights at all international platforms.

“The two sides exchanged views on key regional and international developments,” Sharif’s office said. “They expressed grave concern over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza and reaffirmed their shared commitment to using international platforms to advocate for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and to condemn the ongoing Israeli aggression and genocidal policies.”

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.