DUSHANBE: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani arrived here on Wednesday to represent Pakistan at the annual SCO Heads of Government Council (HGC) meeting being held here in the capital of Tajikistan.

The Prime Minister was received at the airport by First Deputy of Prime Minister of Tajikistan Asadullah Ghulamov and Minister for Water Resources Bobo Kalanov and senior foreign ministry officials.

Pakistan's Ambassador in Dushanbe Khalid Usman Kaiser and senior Embassy officials were also present.

Gilani was accompanied by Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resource Syed Naveed Qamar and Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs Salman Bashir.

At the conference, the SCO heads of government besides reviewing the progress on various projects of trade and economic cooperation among the member states are also expected to discuss the strategy for increased multilateral cooperation and priority directions within the Organisation's framework as well as other matters of regional interest.

Prime Minister Gilani will present Pakistan's view-point on various matters of importance to the region including the need of enhanced cooperation among the regional countries in diverse fields, including trade and economy, energy and other areas for mutual benefit.

Pakistan is among the four countries having observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and was created in Shanghai in 2001 by its member states - Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Pakistan, with its geo-strategic location and having an important role in peace and security in the region, is seeking permanent membership in the SCO, which also has on board Iran, India and Mangolia as observers and Belarus and Sri Lanka as dialogue partners. Afghanistan is also invited in the SCO moots as special guest.

On the sidelines of the SCO conference, Prime Minister Gilani will also hold bilateral meetings with the SCO countries' heads of government including the President and the Prime Minister of Tajikistan, the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, the Prime Minister of Russia and the Chinese Premier.