ISLAMABAD – A delegation of armed forces attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting held in New Delhi earlier this week.
Foreign Office spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch confirmed that a delegation from Joint Staff Headquarters visited the archrival country, saying officers from three armed forces attended a working group meeting of the SCO in the Indian capital.
Much of the rare meeting was kept under wraps but Baloch said two sides interacted at the 16th meeting of the expert working group under the council of ministers of defence of SCO member states.
New Delhi is currently hosting a slew of meetings for being the current President of the intergovernmental organization. It also extended invitations to Pakistani defence and foreign ministers for the meetings scheduled in the coming months.
MoFA spokesperson further maintained that no final decision has been made on the other invitations. In an official statement, she said “Pakistan is an active member of the body and will continue to engage with it.
Amid the unabated tensions between the two sides, India denied Pakistan’s participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) huddle. Lamenting the stubborn behaviour of the Indian government, she said we expressed our concerns with the multinational body and our point has been well registered with the entire organization.
The recent meeting made headlines as it was the first SCO meeting that Islamabad attended in physical appearance. Pakistan virtually attended the chief justice conference as well as the energy ministers’ moot.
Meanwhile, for participation in the SCO defence and foreign ministers meetings, the future of the course of action remains uncertain.
Reports suggest that New Delhi planned to host a summit meeting this year which will be attended by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in another bid to advance talks.
