ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s top judge Justice Umar Ata Bandial has decided not to travel to a neighboring country to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) summit.
New Delhi has invited Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto and Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial to attend the foreign ministers and chief justices’ meeting and the event grabbed a lot of attention amid unabated tensions between the two sides.
It was learnt that the invitation was for the physical meeting but the apex court judge will virtually attend the meeting scheduled for March 10, 11 in the Indian capital. Supreme Court of Foreign Office have not shared any official statements till the filing of this story.
For the unversed, Narendra Modi-led government will be holding meetings along with members of the SCO nations. The South Asian nation took over the presidency of the 8-member grouping last year and approached all nations including Islamabad and Beijing.
The recent development comes months after Pakistan skipped participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Film Festival. The tensions between the two sides remain unabated despite first step from Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who offers an olive branch to the archrival nation.
Pakistan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are members of the Eurasian organisation which currently has eight member countries; it is among leading multilateral organisations across the globe, representing 40pc of the world’s population.
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