ISLAMABAD - Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s FMs meeting in India next month, the foreign ministry announced yesterday.
The SCO is a regional political and security bloc whose members include Russia, China, India and Pakistan. The two-day gathering will begin on May 4 in the western coastal state of Goa.
Speaking at a weekly news briefing here, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahrah Baloch said Bilawal will be attending the SCO meeting at the invitation of his Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar. “Our participation in the meeting reflects Pakistan’s commitment to the SCO Charter and processes and the importance that Pakistan accords to the region in its foreign policy priorities,” Baloch said.
She added: “Pakistan continues to participate in SCO meetings in keeping with our longstanding commitment to SCO.”
The FM, she said, had also attended the last meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers held in July last year in Tashkent.
Bilawal’s India visit will be the first by a Pakistani FM in nearly 12 years. In 2011, the then-top Pakistani diplomat, Hina Rabbani Khar, now Bilawal’s deputy in the foreign ministry, had visited India.
countries worsened since India’s Hindu nationalist government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped the partial autonomy of occupied Kashmir.
Baloch said Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman represented Pakistan at the 4th SCO Meeting of Heads of Ministries on Environmental Protection. The meeting was held in online format in New Delhi on 18th April 2023.
“Yesterday, Director of the National Disaster Management Authority virtually attended the SCO Expert Meeting of Heads of Agencies for Prevention and Elimination of Emergency Situations while today, Muhammad Idrees Mahsud, Member Disaster Risk Reduction, is virtually participating in the SCO Meeting of Heads of Agencies for Prevention and Elimination of Emergency Situations,” she mentioned.
About Bilawal’s schedule, she said, “When decisions are taken, we will make formal announcements. Now that this decision has been taken we will be making preparations for the visit. In coming days as decisions are taken, we will be making further announcements. The upcoming visit of the foreign minister is not a bilateral visit but a visit in SCO context.” To a question, Baloch said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was the crown jewel of Pakistan-China economic collaboration.
“It is an important project to which both Pakistan and China are fully committed. We believe that CPEC has provided enormous benefits to the people of Pakistan. The energy projects that have come online as a result of Chinese investments under the CPEC framework demonstrate their importance for Pakistan’s economy and development,” she added. Similarly, she said, the people of Pakistan were already benefiting from the road infrastructure and the motorway projects developed under CPEC. “The development of Gwadar Port is also a major achievement of CPEC. We believe that all these projects are contributing and have the potential to further contribute to Pakistan’s development and prosperity,” the spokesperson said.
She said Pakistan’s Head of Mission in Afghanistan, Ambassador Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani has returned to Kabul and resumed his responsibilities.
“This was made possible after close consultation with the Afghan interim government. In his telephonic conversation with Acting Afghan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi on 15th of April, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also reiterated the necessity and responsibility of the Afghan interim government towards the safety and security of our diplomatic missions and personnel in Afghanistan,” she maintained.
To a question, she said: “We continue to follow the worrying developments in Sudan and are closely monitoring the safety and security of the Pakistani community there. Our Embassy in Sudan remains in close and constant contact with our community and will continue to facilitate them.”
On Kashmir, she said, as month of Ramazan comes to an end, “we must remember our brothers and sisters in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Even during this holy month, the occupation authorities have continued to impose curbs and restrictions on the freedom of religion.” On Afghanistan, she said, Pakistan and Afghanistan were neighbours and “it is important for both countries to have good cordial relations and engage in continuous robust dialogue on all issues.