Shehbaz Sharif met Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the Council of Heads of State (CHS) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that pipeline gas supplies to Pakistan were possible, revealing that necessary infrastructures were already in place, according to state-owned news agency RIA.
Earlier, Shehbaz had landed in Samarkand and been accompanied by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. Abdulla Aripov of Uzbekistan received the prime minister upon his arrival at the airport.
The PM later visited the Hazrat Khizar complex and the Tomb of Islam Karimov in Samarkand.
According to the PM’s previous tweet, the SCO vision represents the aspirations of 40% of the world’s population, which has necessitated the need for more cooperation among member countries.
‘Shanghai Spirit’ can be the foundation for shared development and prosperity, he said, reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to it.
PM Shehbaz said the SCO has a great opportunity to chart a course forward at a time when the geo-political and geo-economic environments are changing ominously.
The SCO is composed of China, Russia, the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, India, and Pakistan. The CHS is the highest decision-making body of the SCO and decides on the organisation’s priorities and strategies.
The Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement that the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will discuss a range of global and regional issues, including climate change, food security, and energy security, when they meet next week.
The statement said that the SCO would also approve agreements and documents that would chart the future direction of cooperation among its member countries.
Since becoming a full member of SCO in 2017, Pakistan has been participating in various SCO mechanisms to advance the organization’s core objectives, theForeign Office said.
The CHS will be attended by other participating leaders. During this time, the PM will hold bilateral meetings.
Thursday’s summit will be the main event, but Friday’s gathering of the Chinese and Russian presidents will be the most closely watched gathering.
At a time when Moscow’s forces are facing major battlefield setbacks in Ukraine, Putin sees the summit as a chance to show that Russia cannot be isolated internationally.
Xi wants to demonstrate that he is a global leader before the Communist Party congress this fall.
The leaders will have the chance to thumb their noses at the West, especially the United States, which has led the charge in imposing sanctions on Russia over Ukraine and which has recently shown Taiwan some support.
