ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi reached Dushanbe capital of Tajikistan on Monday on a three-day visit to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Foreign Ministers.
On arrival, the foreign minister was received by Tajikistan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Muzaffar Huseinzoda and Pakistan’s ambassador Imran Haider at Dushanbe International Airport.
During his visit, Qureshi will lead a government delegation at the event. He was invited to the forum by his Tajikistan counterpart Sirojiddin Muhriddin who will also host and chair the event.
The foreign ministers of SCO member states will be participating in the meet which will deliberate on important regional and international issues and consider documents for approval and adoption by the Council of Heads of State — the top decision-making body in the SCO.
The foreign minister will also participate in the meeting of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group. There, he will share Islamabad’s perspective on the situation in the war-battered Afghanistan and stress the imperative of a peaceful, negotiated political solution to the conflict.
He will meet extensively with visiting foreign ministers from, underscoring the government’s efforts in support of the Afghanistan peace process, and for durable peace and stability in the South Asian region.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Qureshi is scheduled to meet with his counterparts from Central Asian states Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, Russia and China.
Bilateral and regional ties, in addition to issues of mutual interests, would be discussed during these meetings.
During his stay, Qureshi will call on Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon.
The meeting will consider several important documents for subsequent adoption in the SCO Council of Heads of State scheduled for September.
The major objectives of SCO include: promoting mutual confidence and good-neighbourly relations among member states, strengthening regional peace, security and stability, and create a framework for effective cooperation in the fields of politics, trade and economy, culture, science and technology, education, energy, transportation, tourism and environmental protection.
