Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif arrived in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Thursday to attend the annual meeting of the Council of Heads of State (CHS) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
The Prime Minister will attend the SCO-CHS meeting at the invitation of Uzbekistan President Shaukat Mirziyoyev, who is chairing the meeting.
Uzbek Prime Minister Abdullah Aripov welcomed him on his arrival in Samarkand.
Abdullah Aripov, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan receives Prime Minister Shehbaz sharif upon his arrival at Samarkand Airport.#PakPMatSCO #SCOSummit2022 pic.twitter.com/VtQsyEyP8B
— Marriyum Aurangzeb (@Marriyum_A) September 15, 2022
In a tweet before departure, the Prime Minister said that Pakistan reiterated its commitment to the ‘Shanghai Spirit’.
“Mutual respect and trust can be the basis of common development and prosperity,” he posted on his Twitter handle.
He said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has great potential to chart the way forward at a time of deep and worrisome change in the geopolitical and geo-economic fields.
Leaving for Uzbekistan today to attend the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO. The global economic turbulence has necessitated the need for more cooperation among the SCO member countries. The SCO vision represents the aspirations of 40% of world population.
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) September 15, 2022
“The global economic crisis has created the need for more cooperation among SCO member states. The SCO vision represents the aspirations of 40 percent of the world’s population.
Leaving for Uzbekistan today to attend the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO. The global economic turbulence has necessitated the need for more cooperation among the SCO member countries. The SCO vision represents the aspirations of 40% of world population.
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) September 15, 2022
The meeting is being attended by heads of SCO member countries and observer countries as well as heads of SCO organizations and other special guests.
At the event, SCO leaders will discuss key global and regional issues including climate change, food and energy security and sustainable supply chains.
They will also approve agreements and documents that will determine the future direction of cooperation among the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Apart from attending the summit, Prime Minister Shehbaz will also hold bilateral meetings with other participating leaders on the occasion of the Council of Heads of State meeting.
Since becoming a full member of the SCO in 2017, Pakistan has been actively contributing to the advancement of the core objectives of the organization by participating in various mechanisms of the SCO.
Khalid Akram, Executive Director of the Center for Global and Strategic Studies of Pakistan said, “As global instability and uncertainty continue to increase, the SCO has been called upon to strengthen coordination in multilateral affairs and strengthen true multilateralism. Needs to be maintained”.
Akram also said that “with the joint efforts of all countries, the summit will achieve a series of important consensus and results, and give new impetus and direction to the SCO to achieve more development projects”.
