China's Premier Li Qiang and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif unveiled a plaque to mark the completion of New Gwadar International Airport during a ceremony at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad on October 14, 2024. — AFP
Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Zhaparov arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday to participate in a heads-of-government meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), according to the Pakistani government, with the city under strict security measures. The SCO, a Eurasian security and political group established in 2001 by Russia and China, is hosting its highest-profile event in South Asia in years. Chinese Premier Li Qiang is already in Pakistan, and seven other prime ministers from member and observer states, including Russian Premier Mikhail Mishustin, will also attend in person. The event has attracted additional attention as India sends External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, marking the first visit by an Indian foreign minister to Pakistan in nearly a decade amid frosty relations between the two nuclear powers. Jaishankar arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday, with both sides confirming no bilateral meetings are planned. Indian government spokesman Randhir Jaiswal stated that Jaishankar's agenda will strictly follow the SCO schedule, focusing on trade, humanitarian, and social issues.
A worker installs Pakistan's national flag along a street leading to the venue of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Islamabad on October 15, 2024. — AFP
Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar clarified on Sunday that no bilateral meeting with the Indian foreign minister has been requested or offered. Pakistan's former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari attended an SCO meeting in Goa last year, where he had a verbal exchange with Jaishankar. The last Indian foreign minister to visit Pakistan was Sushma Swaraj in 2015 for an Afghanistan summit. The SCO includes Iran, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, with prime ministers from Belarus and Mongolia also attending. While the main SCO meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will host a welcome dinner for delegates on Tuesday and hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines, according to the Foreign Office.
Army personnel patrol near the venue of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, in Islamabad on October 15, 2024. — AFP
The SCO meeting will focus on ongoing cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, according to the Foreign Office. Observers suggest the bloc aims to counter Western influence in the region. Pakistan's government has declared a three-day public holiday in Islamabad, with schools and businesses closed and significant police and paramilitary forces deployed. The Pakistani army will oversee the security of the capital's Red Zone, home to the parliament and diplomatic enclave, where most SCO meetings will occur, according to the interior ministry. The threat level has been elevated in South Asia ahead of the SCO summit, particularly following the killing of two Chinese engineers on October 6 and the shooting deaths of 21 miners on October 11.
