DUSHANBE (Tajikistan), Sep 17 (APP):Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday joined other regional leaders at the 20th Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State (SCO-CHS) Summit, in Tajikistan’s capital.
On his arrival at Nauroz palace – the venue of the SCO meeting, the prime minister was warmly received by Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon.
At the welcome ceremony, PM Imran Khan and other participating leaders of SCO member states posed for a group photograph with President Emomali, the head of
the host country.
Foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf and Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood were part of the call group.
The SCO, an eight-member permanent inter-governmental trans-regional Organization, was established in Shanghai on 15 June 2001. Pakistan became an SCO Observer in 2005 and a full member in June 2017 during Astana SCO-CHS Summit. Russia, China, India, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan are other SCO members.
The SCO also has four Observer states (Iran, Mongolia, Belarus and Afghanistan) and six Dialogue Partners (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka).
The Prime Minister’s visit is part of Pakistan’s deepened engagement with Central Asia, through ‘Vision Central Asia’ policy, with revitalized focus in five key areas of political ties, trade and investment, energy and connectivity, security and defence, and people-to-people contacts.
