23rd Summit of SCO to begin in Islamabad today 

Islamabad: The 23rd Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will begin on Tuesday in Islamabad in which the Prime Ministers of eight countries including the host Pakistan will participate.

The Prime Ministers of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, China Li Qiang, Belarus Roman Golovchenko, Kazakhstan Oladas Bektinov, Russia Mikhail Mishustin, Tajikistan Kohr Rasulzada and Uzbekistan Abdullah Aripov will attend the SCO Summit.

Kyrgyz Cabinet Chairman Daparov Akilbek, Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Arif and Indian Foreign Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar will also participate in the meeting.

Mongolia is participating in the summit as an observer, represented by the Prime Minister of Mongolia. Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet Rashid Muridov is representing Turkmenistan as a special guest.

Other guests included SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming, Director of the Executive Committee SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure Ruslan Mirzayev, Chairman of the Board of SCO Business Council Atif Ikram Sheikh and Chairman of the Council of SCO Interbank Union Marat Yelibayev.

The ongoing cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, environment and socio-cultural relations will be discussed in the SCO meeting and the organization's performance will also be reviewed. Member States of the organisation will make important organisational decisions to enhance mutual cooperation further and approve the organisation's budget.