Dar to lead Pakistan delegation at SCO meeting in Dushanbe

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will head Pakistan’s delegation to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe on October 19–20, the Foreign Office announced on Monday. The visit follows an invitation from Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda.

Dar’s programme includes meetings with Tajikistan’s president and prime minister, alongside discussions with counterparts from other SCO countries. These bilateral engagements will accompany the main gathering, whose expected focus includes regional trade and connectivity. Pakistan is seeking closer economic links with Central Asian markets through its regional diplomatic engagement.

The Council of Heads of Government handles the organisation’s economic and financial cooperation, including trade, connectivity, social development and budgetary affairs. Its work is separate from the Council of Heads of State summit, which Pakistan is preparing to host in Islamabad next year. The Dushanbe meeting therefore forms part of a wider sequence of SCO engagements.

Preparations in Tajikistan were already under way before the ministerial visit. The SCO Secretariat confirmed that national coordinators began meeting in Dushanbe on October 15 under Pakistan’s chairmanship. Representatives of all ten member countries participated, together with officials from the Secretariat and the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure’s executive committee. Tajik Deputy Foreign Minister Idibek Kalandar addressed the opening session.

Those preparatory discussions covered arrangements for the heads-of-government meeting and cooperation across political, economic, cultural and humanitarian fields. Separately, an earlier announcement outlined an agenda encompassing investment, transport, logistics, industrial cooperation, innovation and the digital economy. These are planned discussion areas; they do not constitute agreements already reached at this week’s gathering.

Pakistan has also been reviewing its own preparations for the 2027 leaders’ summit. At an October 9 meeting in Islamabad, Dar assessed arrangements and instructed ministries and departments to maintain coordination and complete their work on time. Officials attending included representatives from the foreign affairs and defence ministries, the Capital Development Authority and the prime minister’s advisory team.

The immediate programme in Dushanbe combines participation in the regional forum with the announced bilateral meetings. The Foreign Office’s statement sets out Dar’s intended engagements, while any specific decisions or commitments emerging from those talks will depend on subsequent official announcements.