Pakistan in principal agrees to attend SCO meet, but virtually

Pakistan on Monday in principal agreed to participate in Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) national security advisers meeting on 29 March. However, the neighbouring country’s attendance is likely to be virtual.

India, the current president of the eight-nation SCO, is holding a series of events. New Delhi has already extended invitations to Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. The defence ministers’ meeting is scheduled in April in New Delhi while foreign ministers would meet in May in Goa, according to the Express Tribune.
Earlier on Monday, Pakistan began in-house consultations to decide whether to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meetings of the defence and foreign ministers in India.

Barring one event where Pakistan was denied entry over a map controversy, Islamabad has attended all other events, including the chief justices’ conference and meeting of energy ministers via video link.

However, a three-member Pakistan military delegation headed by a Brigadier attended the meeting of an expert working group under the Council of Defence Ministers in person in New Delhi on Thursday.

The presence of the Pakistani delegation in New Delhi had raised the possibility of defence and foreign ministers travelling to India. While the Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson insisted that the final decision would be taken closer to the events, sources said the Pakistani side is likely to be attended virtually.
Sources said that for the last few days the authorities are currently divided over attending the high-profile meetings hosted by India. One view is that given the current state of the bilateral relationship, Pakistan, if required, would only send junior officials to the SCO meetings.

However, other officials do not agree with this. They believe that Pakistan must not leave such key regional forums unattended, and since SCO comprises powerful countries, including Russia and China, Pakistan must use this opportunity to advance its interests.
The meeting has ended with an in principal agreement that Pakistan will participate only through virtual mode.

Pakistan was also keeping a close tab on China’s decision. Sources said if China being the founding member of SCO that played a key role in making Pakistan its full-time member, asks Islamabad to attend the meetings it would be difficult for the government to ignore the advice ultimately.

So, a window is still not closed. In fact, sources said that foreign minister Bilawal was keen to go to India for the SCO meeting.

If Pakistan attends the defence and foreign ministers’ meetings, it is possible that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif may also go to India in July for the SCO summit.
The SCO member countries are India, Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.