Pakistan To Host SCO Summit

Pakistan announced on Thursday that it will host the SCO Heads of Government summit in October and invite all member states’ heads of government.

At the weekly press briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that Pakistan, as the rotating Chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG), will host the SCO Heads of Governments Meeting in October this year.

When asked whether Pakistan would invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit and join the Summit in Pakistan.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch replied, “The chairmanship belongs to Pakistan, so in our capacity as the chair, we will be extending invitations to all Heads of Government of SCO member states”.

“This conference will take place in person and we hope and expect that all members of SCO will be represented at the Heads of Governments Meeting being held in October”, Baloch continued.

Baloch went on to say, “The October summit will be preceded by a Ministerial meeting and several rounds of Senior Officials meetings, focusing on the financial, economic, socio-cultural and humanitarian cooperation among the SCO member states”.

Further, Baloch stated that Pakistan would not join any international political bloc since it believed in having good ties with all countries.

“I would first like to clarify that Pakistan has repeatedly said that we are not part of any bloc. We do not believe in bloc politics. We believe in good relations with all countries on the basis of mutual respect, mutual confidence and non-interference in each other’s domestic affairs”, Baloch noted.

“We believe that International Religious Freedom cannot be viewed from the lens of any single country’s social and legal perspective”, Baloch added.

“We strongly believe that each State itself has the primary responsibility to promote and protect the religious rights and freedoms of its nationals”, Baloch continued, adding that Pakistani citizens are entitled to religious freedom and belief under the law and as embodied in Pakistan’s constitution.

Also read: Hezbollah Rocket Attack Kills Israeli Army Officer