Ishaq Dar leaves for Tajikistan to attend SCO meeting

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Monday departed for Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to lead Pakistan’s delegation to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting, being held on October 19-20.

Besides participating in the CHG proceedings, Dar will meet Tajikistan’s leadership and his counterparts from SCO member states on the sidelines, a statement issued by the Foreign Office said.

The SCO meeting will be attended by the prime ministers of Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Iran’s vice president and India’s external affairs minister, according to the Foreign Office.

The Council of Heads of Government is the SCO’s second-highest decision-making body.

It provides guidance on economic, financial, trade, connectivity, commerce and socio-economic cooperation, as well as the organisation’s budgetary matters.

The meeting is expected to adopt a joint communiqué, statements and other decisions.

During the visit, Dar will also call on Tajikistan’s president and prime minister and hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from SCO member states on the sidelines of the meeting, the Foreign Office said.