Pakistan military delegation attends SCO meeting in New Delhi

Development raises possibility of country's defence minister travelling to India for international huddle next month

ISLAMABAD:

A Pakistani delegation comprising officers from three armed forces attend a working group meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in New Delhi, Foreign Office confirmed on Friday, raising the possibility of the county's defence minister travelling to India next month.

India, being the current President of the SCO, is holding a series of meetings this year. It has invited Pakistani defence and foreign ministers for the SCO meetings scheduled in April and May respectively.

FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters in Islamabad that no final decision was made yet on the invitations but she did confirm the visit of a delegation of Pakistan from the Joint Staff Headquarters attended meeting of the expert working group under the Council of Ministers of Defence of the SCO.

Read more: India denies Pakistan entry at SCO meeting

​"Pakistan is an active member of SCO and will continue to engage with it. Regarding that unfortunate development last week, we have expressed our concerns with the SCO and our point has been well registered with the entire organisation," she said while referring to the Indian move to cancel Pakistani invitation for a meeting of military experts on healthcare and pandemics.

"Regarding the future meetings, I cannot predict how things would develop, but I can share with you that yesterday a delegation of Pakistan from Joint Staff Headquarters attended the 16th meeting of the expert working group under the Council of the Ministers of Defence of SCO member states. It was a working-level delegation that attended in person," she added.

This was the first SCO meeting that Pakistan attended in person. It earlier attended the chief justices conference as well as the energy ministers meeting via video link.

Though a final decision about the participation of Pakistan in the SCO defence and foreign ministers meetings was not taken yet, Islamabad is actively considering the invitation.

Since SCO is a regional forum having China and Russia as its members too, one view within the foreign office is that Pakistan must not leave such key forums allowing India an opportunity to score points.

India is also scheduled to host a summit meeting in June and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is likely to be invited. It is believed that some friendly countries are making fresh efforts to open channels of communication between Pakistan and India. However, because of the uncertain political situation in Pakistan, things are not moving forward.

If Pakistan attends the defence and foreign ministers meetings and later a summit of the SCO, it would be seen as major ice-breaking development although it may not have an immediate impact on the bilateral relationship.