Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Secretary General Nurlan Yermekbayev formally began his visit to Pakistan on Friday. Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, welcomed the SCO Secretary General in Islamabad, who is on an official visit to the country.

The Deputy Prime Minister congratulated Yermekbayev on assuming his new role as the Secretary General of the SCO and assured him of Pakistan’s full support for the SCO Secretariat.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized Pakistan’s close historical ties with SCO member states and reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to upholding the Shanghai Spirit. Secretary General Yermekbayev is also scheduled to meet other senior Pakistani officials during his visit.

He acknowledged the SCO’s role as a platform for promoting regional peace and security, as well as its potential to facilitate enhanced economic development. In this context, he reiterated Pakistan’s constructive participation in mutually beneficial cooperation within SCO mechanisms, particularly in the fields of bilateral trade, transport, and connectivity.

Secretary General Yermekbayev thanked Pakistan for its hospitality and appreciated the country’s active engagement in SCO activities. He praised Pakistan’s successful hosting of the Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (CHG) of SCO Member States in Islamabad in October 2024.

The SCO is a ten-member intergovernmental trans-regional organization established on 15 June 2001. Pakistan became an SCO observer in 2005 and gained full membership in June 2017. Pakistan remains a strong advocate of regional peace, stability, and socio-economic development within the SCO framework.