Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced the names of the top leaders of the member countries who will be attending the 23rd Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the national capital Islamabad from October 15 to 16 (Tuesday and Wednesday).
The SCO is an intergovernmental organisation established by China and Russia. It lays focus on political, economic, defence, and security issues in Eurasia.
Notably, the organisation comprises China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus along with 16 more countries, which are affiliated as observers or "dialogue partners".
The supreme decision-making body of the SCO is the Council of Heads of States (CHS), which meets once a year and decides upon all the important issues of the organisation.
This year, all visiting member nations are expected to send government heads or top leaders apart from Pakistan’s arch-rival India, who will dispatch its foreign minister in a rare visit to its neighbour.
The summit is set to cover a wide range of topics, that are crucial to regional security and cooperation in Pakistan’s capital.
The names of the top leaders of the member countries which will be attending the SCO summit in Islamabad are as follows: