ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar will lead Pakistan’s delegation at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting in Moscow from November 17–18, following an invitation from Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement on Monday.

According to the FO, the meeting will be attended by the heads of government of Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, along with the vice president of Iran and the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India.

Representatives from Mongolia, Bahrain, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait and Turkmenistan, as well as leaders of regional organisations — including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Euro Asian Economic Union (EAEU), Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — will also participate.

“In his address to the SCO CHG, the deputy prime minister will share Pakistan’s perspective on important regional and global issues as well as ways to strengthen the Organisation for the benefit of the SCO region,” the statement said.

The CHG is the second-highest decision-making body of the SCO and oversees cooperation in economy, finance, trade, connectivity, commerce and socio-economic development, including approval of the organisation’s budget. It also adopts joint communiqués, statements and key policy decisions.

The FO added that Dar will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders of other SCO member states on the sidelines to discuss matters of mutual interest.

Earlier this year, the annual SCO summit took place in Tianjin, China, from August 31 to September 1. In September, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that Pakistan would host the next SCO summit.