Pak Foreign Minister Dar to visit China to attend SCO summit

Islamabad | Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will visit China on Monday to attend the foreign ministers' meeting of the SCO bloc.

The Meeting of the Council of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs (CFM) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will be held in Tianjin on July 15.

Dar was invited by his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for the meeting.

Besides Dar, the foreign ministers of other SCO member states -- China, Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will attend the meeting.

The CFM is the third-highest forum in the SCO format and focuses on the issues in international relations, as well as foreign and security policies of the SCO.

It approves the documents, including declarations and statements, etc, that are to be presented for the consideration of the Council of Heads of State (CHS) as well as the decisions to be adopted by the CHS.

Dar, also the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan, will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines of the CFM meeting.

However, the Foreign Office spokesperson told his regular media briefing on Friday that no meeting was planned with the Indian foreign minister.

The upcoming CHS will take place on August 31 – September 1 in Tianjin and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to attend.

He would also use the opportunity for high-level meetings with the top Chinese leadership to strengthen bilateral cooperation and review regional developments, including the May conflict with India, the paper said.

The Express Tribune newspaper, quoting officials, said that the prime minister will be accompanied by Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, which gives added significance to the trip.

The conflict with India drew attention to China's military hardware.

Pakistan procures 80 per cent of its military hardware from China.