Pakistan and China will take part in an anti-terrorism meeting here next week under the aegis of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation(SCO). Despite tension between the two countries, an Indian delegation had also participated in a similar meeting in Pakistan last year.
The upcoming meeting scheduled from May 16 to 19 will see a Pakistan delegation coming to India for the first time after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took over last month.
Pakistan also appointed a Minister(Trade)at its High Commission here recently after a gap of more than three years thereby signaling some positive movement in ties between the two countries.
Leaders and officials of India and China have also participated in the SCO meets even as stand-offs persist at the Line of Actual Control(LAC)in Eastern Ladakh for the last two years.
Besides, China and Pakistan, a Russian delegation will also arrive here for the meeting to be held as part of the Shanghai Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure(RATS).
India is likely to hold a full-fledged drill later this year in Manesar at the National Security Guards(NSG) centre near Gurugram. The RATS is based in Tashkent. It is a permanent body of the grouping and aims to counter terrorism, extremism, and separatism in the region.A three-member Pakistani delegation is expected to arrive here over the weekend for the RATS meet, sources said here on Saturday. An Indian delegation had taken part in a similar meet in Pabbi in Pakistan last year. The SCO was formed in 2001 but India and Pakistan became members only in 2017.Given the travel restrictions in place, China may not be able to send its delegation and representatives from the Chinese Embassy here are likely to take part in the crucial meet, sources said.
India is likely to host the SCO summit in 2023 where leaders of the eight-member grouping (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) are expected to come to New Delhi.
Meanwhile, besides the anti-terrorism exercise at the NSG in October, another joint border operation of the SCO member states called “Friendship Border-2022” will be held in Kazakhstan later this year. Both exercises were decided at a meeting of SCO-RATS in Tashkent on March 25 this year chaired by India.
The SCO grouping is one of the largest groupings, covering around 40% of the global population and 30% of the global GDP.
The grouping has Russia, China and four central Asian countries including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan is the chair of the group this year and will hold the summit in September. It hands over the chairmanship to India, who will hold the summit next year.