Islamabad: Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will visit Pakistan to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit later this month, the Indian foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday.

“The external affairs minister will lead a delegation to Pakistan to participate in the SCO Summit which will be held on October 15 and 16,” Randhir Jaiswal said at a weekly press briefing.
The visit will be the first by an Indian foreign minister to Pakistan in nearly a decade.

Earlier, the Foreign Office (FO) had confirmed that Prime Minister Modi has been invited to the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting, which Pakistan is hosting on Oct 15-16, under its rotating chairmanship.

FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch had said, “An invitation has also been sent to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi,” adding that some countries had already confirmed their participation in the meeting.

Meanwhile, a comprehensive security plan for the upcoming SCO summit was appr­oved on Wednesday at a meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi.

The interior minister said additional personnel from Pakistan Army, Rangers, FC and Punjab police will be deployed to ensure foolproof security for the guests.

In May last year, then-foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had visited India to attend the two-day meeting of the SCO Cou­ncil of Foreign Ministers.

He was the first Pakistani foreign minister to visit India in almost 12 years.

At a Senate panel later that month, Bhutto-Zardari called it a “productive and positive decision” to participate in the event.

“As far as the Kashmir issue, bilateral issues between Pakistan and India, and the responsibilities of multilateralism are concerned, my conclusion after the trip is that it is a productive and positive decision to participate in the event,” he had said.

Similarly, former adviser on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz visited Amritsar in Dec­­ember 2016 for the Heart of Asia conference. Add­itionally, when India hosted the SCO Council of Heads of State on July 4, 2023, in a virtual format, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif participated, demonstrating Pakistan’s willingness to engage despite the strained bilateral relations with India.

India’s participation in the SCO, even otherwise, is a delicate balancing act, weighing its need for regional security cooperation against its wariness of China’s growing influence within the organisation. By engaging selectively in SCO’s economic strategies, India is pursuing a nuanced approach that aims to counterbalance Chinese dominance while fostering constructive ties with Central Asian nations.

India’s hesitation to attend meetings in Pakistan is a well-established stance, dating back to its boycott of the 19th Saarc Summit in November 2016, which was to be hosted by Pakistan. The boycott led to a stalemate, leaving the regional body in limbo, as the Saarc charter mandates that all member states must be present for a summit to take place. In contrast, the SCO has no such restriction, allowing for more flexibility in its meeting arrangements.

Lahore: The gold prices in Pakistan increased on Friday in line with their increase in international rates. In the local market, the price of gold per tola increased by Rs1,800, clocking in at Rs276,200.

Similarly, 10-gram gold was sold at Rs236,797 after it recorded a gain of Rs1,543, according to rates shared by the All-Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association (APGJSA).

On Thursday, gold price was decreased by Rs1,100 to settle at Rs274,400.

Meanwhile, the international rate of gold increased on Friday. As per APGJSA, the rate was at $2,660 per ounce (with a premium of $20), and up by $18 during the day.

Silver prices remained stable at Rs3,050 per tola.

Last week, gold price hit a record high level of Rs277,000 per tola in Pakistan.

Internationally, gold prices traded flat on Friday but were slightly down for the week, as market focus shifted to a crucial US payrolls report for clearer insight into the Federal Reserve’s anticipated interest rate reduction next month.

Spot gold was steady at $2,657.13 per ounce, as of 0034 GMT. Bullion was on track for a weekly decline, after three straight weekly gains.

US gold futures fell 0.1% to $2,676.70.

Bullion is considered a safe investment during times of political and financial uncertainty.

Geneva (AFP): The UN health agency said on Friday that it had approved the use of the first diagnostic test for mpox, a key tool in countries battling outbreaks.

More than 800 people have died across Africa from mpox, where the disease has been officially detected in 16 countries, according to the African Union’s disease control centre.

“The approval for emergency use” of the test “will be pivotal in expanding diagnostic capacity in countries facing mpox outbreaks, where the need for quick and accurate testing has risen sharply”, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a statement.

The test, called the Alinity m MPXV assay and manufactured by Abbott Molecular Inc, enables the detection of the mpox virus from swabs taken from human lesions.

“By detecting DNA from pustular or vesicular rash samples, laboratory and health workers can confirm suspected mpox cases efficiently and effectively,” the WHO said.

“Limited testing capacity and delays in confirming mpox cases persist in Africa, contributing to the continued spread of the virus,” it said.

The approval of the test “represents a significant milestone in expanding testing availability in affected countries”, the statement quoted Yukiko Nakatani, an assistant director-general of WHO, as saying.

“Increasing access to quality-assured medical products is central to our efforts in assisting countries to contain the spread of the virus and protect their people, especially in underserved regions,” Nakatani said.

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.

It causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions, and can be deadly.