Pakistan's presence 'reflects our commitment to the SCO Charter & multilateralism': Pak PM

As the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) meeting with Foreign Ministers of eight nations is currently underway in Goa, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif has tweeted that Islamabad's decision to attend the SCO Council of Foreign Minister's meeting in India reflects "our commitment to the SCO Charter & multilateralism". Hosted by India, the theme of SCO in 2023 is ‘SECURE-SCO’ which is scheduled to take place on July 3-4 in New Delhi. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto has reached Goa to attend the SCO meeting. 

Taking to Twitter, Shehbaz Sharif wrote: "Pakistan's decision to attend SCO Council of Foreign Minister's meeting in India reflects our commitment to the SCO Charter & multilateralism. We are committed to playing our part to advance our shared values of peace & stability in the region. We are all for win win understandings based on connectivity, trade and mutually advantageous cooperation."

Pakistan's decision to attend SCO Council of Foreign Minister's meeting in India reflects our commitment to the SCO Charter & multilateralism. We are committed to playing our part to advance our shared values of peace & stability in the region. We are all for win win…

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz)

SCO meeting in Goa 

In the current SCO Goa meeting, a range of prominent geopolitical issues, such as economic cooperation among SCO members, counter-terrorism and regional security will be discussed by the Minister and diplomats. It is to be noted that, on April 20, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has shared that he would attend the Shanghai Cooperation (SCO) Foreign Ministers' meet that has been scheduled to take place in Goa, sources have confirmed. In January 2023, with the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) chairmanship with India, it formally sent invitations to all members including Pakistan and China for the upcoming foreign ministers' meeting which will be held in Goa on May 4 and 5. The invitation includes invites to the new Foreign Minister of China Qin Gang and Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto. Republic has been able to access some of the important details of the meeting. These highlights of the SCO meeting that has been taking place in Goa, India

• Leaders of Belarus and Iran will be invited to the summit in July as observers. 
• India has brought dynamism to the SCO as it is leading the way emphasising Innovation and startup, traditional medicine, science and technology.
• As the official languages of the SCO are Russian and Chinese, there is a push from India's side to make English the official language. 
• SCO is positive about India’s chairmanship and the role played by India in a short span of time.
• Mutual settlement of trade in national currency proposal is in the very initial stage.
• Deliberation over including the Republic of Belarus and the Islamic Republic of Iran as full-time SCO member states.  
• 14 dialogue partners are in for the July SCO meet whereas  4 dialogue partners Kuwait, UAE, Myanmar and Maldives are yet to be confirmed. 
• Formal confirmation for the SCO July summit from the member states is still awaited but as a standard format for past summits, all leaders will be present. 
• A total of 15 decisions made during this meeting are under negotiation. The standard agenda is for the Council of Foreign Ministers to take stock to make way for the summit in July. 
• The agenda for this meeting are based on regional and international issues. If any member state wants to discuss any issue of common interest, it will be done but the focus is on reform and modernisation.