Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif to attend SCO meeting in China

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will visit China next week to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ( SCO) meeting.

The Foreign Office (FO) said that Sharif will lead the Pakistan delegation to the SCO Heads of Government Council Meeting which is being held in Zhengzhou on December 14-15.

"On the sidelines of the SCO meeting, Prime Minister will have a bilateral meeting with the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in which issues of mutual interest will be discussed," a statement said.

The SCO is an important organisation founded in Shanghai in 2001. Its member-states include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

In July, the SCO decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members, and they are expected to join by 2016.

As an Observer State of the SCO, Pakistan has been making substantive contribution to regional peace, security and development, said the Foreign Office.