Sharif to attend SCO summit in Kazakhstan

Islamabad June 7 (IANS) Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will attend the 17th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan capital Astana the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

Pakistan will become a full member of the SCO at the Astana summit starting on Thursday the Ministry said. Islamabad had been a SCO observer since 2005.

On the sidelines of the SCO summit Sharif will hold a number of bilateral meetings with other participating leaders Xinhua news agency reported.

SCO established in 2001 is a regional political economic and security organisation that includes China Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Russia Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as full members.

India and Pakistan s SCO accession procedures started in 2015. The two signed the SCO Memorandum of Obligations in June 2016 kickstarting the formal process of joining SCO as full members.

--IANS
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