Pakistan is set to assume the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Heads of State in September. The country will also be the host of next year’s summit of CHS making Islamabad the focal point of one of the world’s largest multilateral platforms at a crucial juncture of regional diplomacy.
The announcement coincides with the SCO’s 25th anniversary. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar observed the event, affirming the organisation’s contribution to the process of achieving regional peace, security, stability, economic cooperation, connectivity, and people-to-people exchanges among its member states. Pakistan’s chairmanship is of immense strategic value.
The SCO brings together China, Russia, India, and several Central Asian states under one framework. As chair of the bloc and host of its top meeting, Pakistan now has direct access to the multilateral decision making process at the highest level, when Islamabad has been busy expanding its diplomatic outreach after the success of Operation Bunyan al-Marsoos and its mediation efforts in the Iran-US conflict.
The CHS is the SCO’s highest decision-making body. Organizing the summit gives Pakistan the power to set the agenda and fashion the outcome of the bloc’s most important annual gathering.
With Pakistan actively involved in both areas, the chairmanship will be utilized purposefully, and connectivity, stability in the region will be among the top priorities, which Dar’s statement indicates.
