- PM to leave for Astana on June 7
- Sharif likely to meet President Putin, President Xi, President Nazarbayev
- No meeting with Indian premier likely
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to leave for Astana, Kazakhstan, on June 7 to attend the crucial session of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), wherein Pakistan is going to attain the status of a permanent member to the SCO.
Apart from Pakistan, India also is set to attain admission as a full member. The membership will be formalised at the political and security grouping’s summit. Besides PM Nawaz, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and heads of states of other member states are expected to attend the summit to be held on June 8-9.
Though Indian media has been speculating of a possible meeting of PM Nawaz with his Indian counterpart Modi on the sidelines of the summit, the officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have out-rightly rejected any such possibility.
“For the time being, we have no such request received from India. Moreover, any such meeting is unlikely, as unabated hostile acts by Indian forces through ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LoC) and the ongoing killing spree in the India-occupied Kashmir (IoK) have left little scope of any such meeting,” the official said.
The official said that the SCO member states are accelerating the MoU procedures with Pakistan as procedural measures of attaining the permanent membership.
The official said that the prime minister was also likely to hold an important meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on the sidelines of the conference on June 9.
“Other likely meetings of the PM include a sitting with the United Nations Secretary General and Secretary General of the SCO,” the official said.
The official added that another important feature of the SCO is that the summit coincides with an international exhibition at Astana, with the theme of sustainable energy. More than 40 countries are participating, while Pakistan is set to have its pavilion organised by the TDAP, the official added.
Pakistan has been an observer state of the SCO since 2005. It was the first observer state to apply for full membership in the year 2010. SCO heads of states, in their meeting in June 2015, had agreed in principle to grant membership to Pakistan and invited it to start the process of admission.
Subsequently, a memorandum of obligations was signed in 2016, which outlines the steps required to be taken by Pakistan to become a full member. Pakistan successfully completed all the required steps, including accession to SCO instruments.
The official said Pakistan’s membership of SCO is the culmination of a key foreign policy goal, inspired by a vision of a peaceful neighbourhood and connectivity.
“Pakistan shares with SCO and its members deep-rooted, historical and cultural links and strong economic and strategic complementarities. Pakistan’s interests and objectives intersect across a wide range of areas and issues,” the official added.
He said the membership of this important organisation is another landmark achievement, as it would “strengthen Pakistan’s cooperation with SCO member-states; advance our goals of effective contribution to regional peace, stability and development.” It would also enable Pakistan to convey its perspective on regional issues at an important forum, he added.
“For Pakistan, SCO allows it to reiterate its interest in regional peace, stability and development and its support for regional cooperation against terrorism, separatism and extremism. It provides Pakistan with a platform to forge closer ties with the SCO member states, including China and Russia—the two key players in the region”.
He said the SCO allows Pakistan to explore greater economic linkages and cooperation with the Central Asian countries in the areas of energy and transport.
“It would also help Pakistan promote China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a regional connectivity project. Pakistan can act as a catalyst for the SCO’s plans to spur regional, economic integration and connectivity,” the official said.
Established on June 15, 2001, SCO is succour to Shanghai 5, which was established in 1995, with founding members China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to deal with border disputes between the member countries.
Charter of the SCO was signed in June 2002. Observer status was accorded to Mongolia in 2004, whereas Pakistan, Iran and India were given the status in 2005. Afghanistan was added as an observer in 2012, while Belarus was included in the club with an observer status in 2015.
There are six dialogue partners—Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
The member states vow to fight three evil forces: terrorism, separatism and extremism.
Shanghai Spirit is four principles—mutual trust, equality, respect for cultural diversity, common development, non-alignment, non-targeting any third country and openness.
Objectives of the SCO include mutual confidence and good neighbourly relations; cooperation in politics, trade and economy, science and technology, culture and education, energy, transportation, tourism, environment, etc.; peace, security and stability in the region; democratic, just and rational political international order.
The SCO states hold joint military and antiterrorism exercises.
“Peace Mission 2016” was the latest Institutional framework while the council of heads of state, highest SCO organ, meets every year. Last time it met was in Tashkent in June 2016.
