India's EAM Jaishankar to visit Pakistan to attend SCO Summit in October

India's External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar will be travelling to Pakistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting on October 15-16, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday (Oct 4). This will mark the first visit by anIndian foreignministerto Pakistan in nearly a decade.

The Federal government in Pakistan has decided to deploy rangers in Islamabad ahead of the summit, as part of security measures.

Moreover, the paramilitary rangers will be deployed in Islamabad till the summit concludes, according tolocal media in Pakistan.

The SCO comprises India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It is an influential economic and security bloc that has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations.

Pakistan holds the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) and will be hosting the two-day in-person SCO meeting in October.

Pakistan invited India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the SCO Summit in August.

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Meanwhile, India hosted the SCO Summit last year virtually, which was attended by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif through a video link.

The SCO Council of Heads of Government level is the second-highest body in the grouping. Since 2017, India has been represented at the level of EAM or defence minister.

(With inputs from agencies)