Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in Russian capital Moscow on Monday to attend the Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

FM Dar was received by the Russian Deputy FM Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Director of State Protocol Aleksander Prusov, Deputy Director of Second Asia Department of Russian Foreign Ministry Alexei Surovtsev and Pakistan Embassy officers.

The Foreign Office (FO) said he would lead the Pakistani delegation at the summit, being held on November 17-18, at the invitation of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Vladmirovich Mishustin.

“The CHG will be attended by the heads of government of Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the vice president of Iran, and the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India,” the statement said.

Further, in addition to SCO member states, the heads of the governments of Mongolia, Bahrain, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait and Turkmenistan will also be attending the meeting alongside those of regional/international organisations, including the Commonwealth of Independent States, Euro Asian Economic Union, Collective Security Treaty Organisation and Democratic Socialists of America.

“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 added.

Dar will also hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of other SCO countries on the sidelines of the summit, the FO added.

The CHG is the second-highest decision-making institution in the SCO and provides guidance in the areas of economy, finance, trade, connectivity, commerce and socio-economic cooperation, including the organisation’s budgetary matters, according to the FO. The SCO CHG adopts joint communiqué, statements and important decisions.

The SCO held a summit in Tianjin, China, from August 31 to September 1 earlier this year. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also announced in September announced that Pakistan would be hosting the next SCO summit, but did not provide a date.