S Jaishankar will visit Pakistan later this month to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
S Jaishankar To Visit Pak For SCO Meet
S Jaishankar will visit Pakistan later this month to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, becoming the first External Affairs Minister to do so in nine years. The last visit was by Sushma Swaraj in 2015. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday that Mr Jaishankar will lead a delegation to Pakistan to attend a SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting.
“The EAM will lead our delegation to Pakistan to participate in the SCO summit which will be held in Islamabad on October 15 and 16,” Mr. Jaiswal said, emphasising that the visit will be limited to attending the summit. Pakistan had invited PM Narendra Modi for the meeting in August.
The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and India was an observer country for the first time in 2005. It became a permanent member, along with Pakistan, in 2017. India was the chair of the organisation in 2023 and hosted the SCO summit in the virtual format in July of that year.
The SCO meeting in Islamabad is being held at a time when protests by supporters of jailed former PM Imran Khan are roiling Pakistan. In May 2023, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who was then the Pakistan Foreign Minister, visited India to attend the in-person two-day meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Goa. He was the first Pakistani Foreign Minister to visit India in almost 12 years. On Friday, the Associated Press news agency reported that authorities placed shipping containers on key roads and highways leading to Islamabad and suspended cellphone service in an attempt to prevent Khan’s supporters from holding a rally seeking his release.
SCO Summit 2024
2024 SCO Summit was concluded in Astana, Kazakhstan and brought together leaders from across the region.
India played a prominent role, with the EAM delivering the Prime Minister’s message that highlighted combating terrorism and addressing climate change as key priorities.
New Membership: Belarus has become the 10th member state of the SCO. The Indian EAM met with Belarusian counterpart to strengthen bilateral ties.
SCO Origins
The SCO originated from the “Shanghai Five,” formed in 1996, consisting of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
It was created to address concerns about extremist religious groups and ethnic tensions following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.
SCO was established on 15th June 2001, in Shanghai, adding Uzbekistan as a sixth member.
Before the inclusion of Belarus, it had nine members: India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Afghanistan and Mongolia hold Observer Status.
