ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain would lead the country’s delegation to the meeting of the Heads of States Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent on June 23-24, an official announcement said on Tuesday.
Pakistan is expected to sign a ‘memorandum of obligations’ in Tashkent, which would be a major step towards becoming a full member of the SCO, the Foreign Ministry said. Prior to that, as an observer state of the SCO, Pakistan has been making substantive contribution in regional peace, security and development, it added. Pakistan was invited to start the process of becoming full SCO member at the Heads of State Council meeting held in Ufa, Russia in July 2015. SCO is an important organisation founded in Shanghai in 2001. Its member- states include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The SCO Heads of States Council (HSC) is the highest decision-making body of the organisation. The SCO comprises six member states, five observers and three dialogue partners. Established in June 2001, Pakistan became an observer in SCO in 2005, and was the first country to apply for full membership in 2010. The SCO is aimed at strengthening friendly relations amongst states, maintenance of peace, stability and security in the region, building a new, just and rational international political and economic order, joint efforts in combating terrorism, extremism, separatism and the menace of narcotic substances. The president would also hold important bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the SCO Summit, Foreign Ministry statement concluded.
