Ansar M Bhatti

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will be participating in the 20^th Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State (SCO-CHS), being held in video conference format on 10 November 2020.

The invitation to the Prime Minister to attend the SCO-CHS was extended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who would chair the Meeting. Leaders from all 8 SCO Member States and 4 Observer States will attend, besides the UN Secretary General and the Secretary General of SCO.

The SCO-CHS is the highest forum of SCO. It adopts documents and decisions that provide policy guidelines for determining priorities and major areas of activities of the Organization.

The 20^th SCO-CHS will adopt 16 documents including Moscow Declaration reflecting member states’ stance on important regional and international issues.

Besides Pakistan, SCO’s current membership comprises China, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. SCO’s major objectives include promoting mutual confidence and good-neighborly relations among member states, strengthening regional peace, security and stability, and creating a framework for effective cooperation in political, cultural, trade and economy, science and technology, education, energy, transportation, tourism, environmental protection and other fields.

SCO is an important forum for further enriching our deep rooted historical and cultural links with member states, providing these ties a sound economic foundation, and promoting Pakistan as a regional trade and transit corridor.

Since becoming a member in 2017, Pakistan has been actively contributing to the promotion SCO’s multi-sectoral agenda through participation in various SCO mechanisms.