ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: President Mamnoon Hussain will lead the Pakistan delegation to Uzbekistan to attend the meeting of the Heads of States Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an important organization founded in Shanghai in 2001.
The two-day meeting of SCO Heads of States Council, the highest decision-making body of the Organization, will be held in Tashkent on June 23-24, 2016.
Pakistan was invited to start the process of becoming full SCO member at the Heads of State Council meeting held in Russian City of Ufa in July 2015, said the Foreign Office in a press release issued on Tuesday.
Pakistan is expected to sign the ‘Memorandum of Obligations’ at Tashkent which will be major step towards becoming a full member of the SCO. Prior to that, as an Observer State of the SCO, Pakistan has been making substantive contribution to regional peace, security and development.
The SCO comprises six member states including China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, five Observers and three Dialogue Partners.
Established in June 2001, Pakistan became an Observer in SCO in 2005 and was the first country to apply for full membership in 2010.
The SCO aims at strengthening friendly relations amongst states, maintenance of peace, stability and security in the region, building a new, just and rational international political and economic order, joint efforts in combating terrorism, extremism, separatism and the menace of narcotic substances.
President Mamnoon Hussain will also hold important bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the SCO Summit.
Sources said that there will be 12 meetings between Pakistan and Uzbekistan leaders on the sidelines of the Summit with objectives to further boost bilateral cooperation in various fields. For this purpose, sources said, a special desk has been established at the Pakistan Embassy in Tashkent.
Likewise, the Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz will also hold a sideline meeting with Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Salahuddin Rabbani to discuss the issues relating to border management.
