ISLAMABAD: Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain has arrived in China to attend the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit.
It will be Pakistan’s first participation at the Council of Heads of State (CHS), the SCO’s highest decision-making forum, which meets annually to consider and define the organization’s strategies, prospects and priorities.
The invitation to attend the 18th CHS meeting was extended to Hussain by China’s President Xi Jinping.
The meeting, chaired by Xi, will be attended by heads of SCO member states, representatives of observer states, and representatives of international organizations such as the UN, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) honor guards march after Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain arrived at Qingdao Liuting International Airport for the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Qingdao city, Shandong province, China, June 8, 2018. (Pool via Reuters)
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday reaffirmed the country’s “deep-rooted historical and cultural affinities” with SCO member states.
“Pakistan affords critical overland connectivity for trade and energy, and supports the SCO’s efforts at regional integration,” the ministry said.
Pakistan and India were the latest countries to join the SCO as full members in June 2017, alongside China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
“Pakistan’s membership has been facilitating the further deepening and broadening of our multifaceted relations with individual member states and the SCO region at large,” said Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.
On the sidelines of the summit, Hussain will hold bilateral meetings with Xi and other regional heads of state.
