Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar lands in Pakistan for SCO summit – SUCH TV
India’s Minister for External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday, as the highly anticipated 23rd summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is set to commence in the evening.
The SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus — with 16 more countries affiliated as observers or “dialogue partners”.
Pakistan became a full member of the SCO at its 2017 summit in Kazakhstan, which was attended by ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, who recently also expressed the hope for reviving ties with India.
In his capacity as the current Chair of the Council of the Heads of Government (CHG), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will preside over the summit.
State-run PTV showed images of Jaishankar being greeted by Pakistani officials on the runway after his plane touched down near the capital Islamabad just before 3:30pm.
Around noon today, Kyrgyz premier, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Akylbek Japarov, arrived at the Nur Khan Airbase, where he was received by Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik.
Premiers of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan also arrived in Islamabad earlier.
Shortly after, Belarus PM Roman Golovchenko landed at the Islamabad International Airport, where Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar welcomed him.
Tajik premier Kokhir Rasulzoda also landed at the same airport, where Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan greeted him.
Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov of Turkmenistan, which is a special guest at the SCO, was received by Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui at the Islamabad airport.
