Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers’ meeting virtually, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow (April 27) in New Delhi, sources said on Wednesday.
This comes as Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu makes his first visit to India to attend the meeting.
The SCO meeting will be held from Thursday to Friday, and the Russian defence minister will also attend the event.
In addition to the member states, the SCO defence ministers meeting will also include participation from two observer nations, Belarus and Iran.
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from participating countries on the sidelines, where they will discuss regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within the SCO, and effective multilateralism.
Although Asif has opted to attend the regional moot virtually, while Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto will attend the SCO Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Goa from May 4-5.
This will mark the first visit by a Pakistani foreign minister to India since 2011.
Founded in 2001, the SCO is a multinational group whose members include China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and India. The organisation aims to promote cooperation on political, economic, and security issues among its members.
