ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif will virtually attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers’ meeting to be held in India on April 27-28, official sources told Dawn.

Mr Asif was extended a formal invitation for the meeting. The information came days after the Foreign Office confirmed that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari would attend the SCO foreign ministers’ conference in India.

Chinese Defence Minister General Li Shangfu and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu will attend the meeting, hosted by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

The SCO is a regional intergovernmental group of eight member states, covering more than 60 per cent of the Eurasian landmass, 40pc of the world population, and 30pc of the global GDP.

Both Pakistan and India were accepted as full members of the influential organisation a few years ago after they committed not to undermine the SCO work because of their bilateral disputes.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2023