By Muhammad Luqman
Pakistan will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Heads of Governments meeting in the capital, Islamabad on October 15-16.
Pakistan currently holds the rotating Chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of Government, which is SCO’s second-highest decision-making forum.
The October Summit will be preceded by a Ministerial meeting and several rounds of senior officials’ meetings, focusing on the financial, economic, socio-cultural and humanitarian cooperation among the SCO member states.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a successor of Shanghai Five, was formally launched on June 15, 2001. Its members include: Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Islamabad Summit is going to be the biggest gathering of top world leaders in Pakistan since a conclave of developing nations, D-8 in November 2012.
Pakistan has extended invitation to the heads of governments of all the member states of this Eurasian political and security bloc including India’s Narendra Modi.
Last year, India was the host of various SCO-related events. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari became the first Pakistani foreign minister to travel to India in more than 12 years for a meeting.
When India hosted the leaders’ summit in July 2023, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made an online appearance.
In 2015, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s then prime minister, and Modi, who was in his first stint as Indian premier, met in the Russian city of Ufa on the sidelines of an SCO summit, where the two engaged in a dialogue which resulted in a joint statement issued by the two governments.
Pakistan has extended another invitation to New Delhi, asking Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to visit Islamabad to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Trade Ministers’ Meeting.
According to the diplomatic sources, the invitation was forwarded to the Indian minister under SCO framework through SCO Secretariat.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Trade Ministers’ meeting is scheduled to be held in Islamabad on September 12-13.
The ministers of trade and economic affairs from SCO member countries are expected to participate in the meeting. During the meeting, there will be consultations on trade and economic cooperation among the member countries.
The SCO is governed by the Heads of State Council (HSC), its supreme decision-making body, which meets once a year. The organization also contains the so-called Regional Antiterrorist Structure (RATS).
The Council of Heads of Government is the second-highest council in the organisation. This council also holds annual summits, at which time members discuss issues of multilateral cooperation and approves the organisation’s budget.[20] As of the 1 November 2022 meeting, Council of Heads of Government consists of:- Li Qiang (China), Narendra Modi (India) , Alihan Smaiylov (Kazakhstan), Akylbek Japarov (Kyrgyzstan), Shehbaz Sharif (Pakistan) , Mikhail Mishustin (Russia), Qohir Rasulzoda (Tajikistan) and Abdulla Aripov (Uzbekistan)
The Secretariat of the SCO, headquartered in Beijing, China, is the primary executive body of the organisation. It serves to implement organisational decisions and decrees, drafts proposed documents (such as declarations and agendas), function as a document depository for the organisation, arranges specific activities within the SCO framework, and promotes and disseminates information about the SCO. The SCO Secretary-General is elected to a three-year term.[25] Zhang Ming of China became the current Secretary-General on 1 January 2022.[25]
The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) Executive Committee, headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is a permanent organ of the SCO which serves to promote cooperation of member states against the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. The Director of SCO RATS Executive Committee is elected to a three-year term. Ruslan Mirzaev of Uzbekistan became the current Director on 1 January 2022. Each member state also sends a permanent representative to RATS.[26]
The official languages of the SCO are Chinese and Russian.
