Bilal Ahmed 
(C)DT,indias fm on pakistan visit after almost a decade as sco summit set to begin
Among these is Pakistan, which became a full member of the SCO at its 2017 summit in Kazakhstan, attended by former PM Nawaz Sharif, who has also recently expressed hopes of renewing ties with India.
In his capacity as the current chairman of the Council of Heads of Government (CHG), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will chair the summit.
The public broadcaster PTV showed footage of Jaishankar being welcomed by the Director General for South Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ilyas Mehmood Nizami, and other Pakistani officials after his plane landed at Nur Khan airbase shortly before 3.30pm.
Jaishankar’s own post on X about his arrival only mentioned the SCO summit.
https://twitter.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1846150619486163253/photo/1
India’s minister said he would not be discussing bilateral relations during his visit.
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, chairman of the PPP and former foreign minister, told Geo News that according to SCO rules, country representatives cannot discuss bilateral issues at the summit.
‘There are other forums where countries can talk about their bilateral issues,’ Bilawal said.
When asked about the development of the Indian situation in Canada, Bilawal said that the charges against the Indian government were ‘very serious’. Pakistan was hosting the event, however, and in keeping with the country’s tradition of protecting the esteem of its guests, it would respect India and not comment in detail on the matter.
Heads of state and ministers arrive ahead of the summit
The prime ministers of China, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will represent these countries, while Iran’s first vice-president, Mohammad Reza Aref, will attend the summit, the foreign ministry said.
The Prime Minister of Mongolia, Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene, an observer state, and the Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan, Raşit Meredow, will also take part in the meeting.
Soon after, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko landed at Islamabad International Airport, where he was welcomed by Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar.
Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda of Tajikistan also landed at the same airport, where he was welcomed by Trade Minister Jam Kamal Khan.
Turkmenistan’s Foreign Minister Meredov, who is a special guest of the SCO, was received by Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui at Islamabad airport, PTV News reported.
Programme of the summit
The main event of the day will be a welcome dinner hosted by the Prime Minister, according to the summit programme issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a copy of which was obtained by Dawn.com.
The delegations will continue to arrive today.
The programme calls for participants to arrive at the Jinnah Convention Centre on Wednesday morning, where they will be welcomed by Prime Minister Shehbaz.
Following group photos, Prime Minister Shehbaz will deliver his opening speech, which will be followed by statements from the other Member States. An essential item on the agenda is the ‘signing of the documents’ before the Prime Minister makes his closing remarks.
During the afternoon, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming will brief the media on the highlights of the summit. This is followed by ‘official lunches’ hosted by Prime Minister Shehbaz.
