ISLAMABAD, June 24: Pakistan and India will have high-level contact early next month at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan where both are invited as observer nations.

The summit is scheduled for July 5 in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana.

It is not yet clear who will represent the two countries at the summit of the key regional security grouping. However, what is certain is that the top political representatives of the two countries would meet on the sidelines of the summit.

When Dawn contacted Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani on Friday he said a decision in this regard would be taken in a couple of days. He, however, indicated that it could be either the president, the prime minister or the foreign minister. Mr Jilani said leaders of the two countries were to hold a bilateral meeting on the fringes of the SCO summit.

This will be the first high-level contact between the two countries after President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in April and after the landmark visit of the Hurriyat delegation to AJK and Pakistan.

The summit would provide the leaders of the two countries an opportunity to review the ongoing dialogue process and discuss bilateral matters, including the Siachen issue, sources maintained.

Given that Iran will also be participating in the summit, the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project is also expected to come up for discussion, it is learnt.

Pakistan, India and Iran were all granted the observer status by the SCO this month, bringing the total number of observers to four. Mongolia was approved as an observer nation last year.

According to officials here, the SCO ‘observer’ status would help Pakistan improve linkages with Central Asian countries and increase cooperation in the economic field and against terrorism, a senior official told Dawn.

The SCO, an intergovernmental organization founded in Shanghai in 2001, comprises China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The organization initially started out as Shanghai Six but was renamed the SCO. Observers see the SCO, led by major powers like China and Russia, as a counterbalance to the United States and its growing influence in Central Asia. Its focus has been increasing on energy and terrorism issues.

At the last SCO summit held in Tashkent in June 2004 the presidents of six SCO members pledged to strengthen their security alliance and enhance cooperation in fighting global terrorism. Cooperation was promoted through economic and trade agreements, with China offering $900 million in preferential buyer’s credit loans to other members.

APP adds: Meanwhile, China welcomed Pakistan’s participation in the SCO summit and expressed the hope that the SCO’s expansion would be beneficial to increasing mutual understanding and promoting cooperation at bilateral and regional levels.

A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, Liu Jianchao, said in Beijing that the issue concerning anti-terrorism would be a major topic during the summit.

He said the agenda for the summit had been drafted through discussions and leaders attending the meeting would have in-depth exchange of views.

“Combating three evil forces — namely, terrorism, extremism and separatism — as well as encouraging economic and trade cooperation are two important elements driving the development of the SCO,” said the spokesman.

Meanwhile, an official at the SCO secretariat said that Pakistan’s presence in the grouping would help it to deepen security and economic ties with the entire resource-rich Central Asian region as well as reinforce its ties individually with each of the countries.

Talking to APP, the official commended Pakistan’s role in the coalition against terrorism. The SCO, he said, fully recognized Pakistan’s consistent efforts to make the region free of terrorism.