Foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari says Pakistan was considering mode of participation in SCO summit but India announced virtual meeting

Islamabad, Jun 16 (PTI) Foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday said Pakistan was considering the mode of participation in the SCO summit by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif but India announced the meeting in the virtual setting.

Bilawal was addressing a ceremony here to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), a think tank.

“I had the opportunity to visit Goa this year to participate in the SCO-CFM. The SCO Heads of State (HOS) meeting is going to be held soon in India. As Pakistan was considering the mode of prime minister’s participation in the SCO summit, India announced holding the summit in virtual format,” he said.

He announced that Pakistan was committed to engaging with India through multilateral organisations including SCO, the UN and others.

He said Pakistan was committed to having cooperative and good neighbourly relations with India on the basis of mutual respect and sovereign equality.

India earlier this month announced its decision to hold the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in a virtual format on July 4.

India is hosting the summit in its capacity as the current chair of the SCO.

India hosted the foreign ministers of the SCO at a two-day conclave in Goa in May this year.

The SCO is an influential economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.

The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

India and Pakistan became permanent members in 2017.

India was made an observer at the SCO in 2005 and has generally participated in the ministerial-level meetings of the grouping, which focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian region.

India has shown a keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.