Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization of Eurasian countries gathered in Pakistan Tuesday for an annual, two-day meeting to discuss ways to enhance regional security, stability, and development cooperation.
Authorities have placed Islamabad under a security lockdown for the SCO gathering, deploying thousands of forces, including troops, in and around the Pakistani capital to protect the high-profile event.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin are among several heads of government who will attend the meeting, which will be presided over by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the organization’s current chair.
Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and the first vice president of Iran will represent their respective countries at the meeting. Jaishankar is the first Indian foreign minister to visit Islamabad in nearly a decade.
Pakistan and India have both ruled out the possibility of bilateral talks during Jaishankar’s visit, emphasizing that the SCO is a “multilateral” gathering, and neither side has requested such a meeting.
Officials stated that Sharif would host a welcome dinner for SCO delegates on Tuesday. The summit proceedings will commence on Wednesday morning.
Security concerns surrounding Tuesday’s SCO meeting in Pakistan stem from a recent surge in militant attacks in the country. However, the deadly violence has primarily affected southwestern Balochistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces bordering Afghanistan.
The Pakistani government has declared a three-day public holiday in Islamabad and the adjoining garrison city of Rawalpindi as part of security measures.
