Shanghai Group Meet in Delhi: Pak defence minister to attend virtually

New Delhi: Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif will be attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' meeting virtually.

India has invited him to join the other SCO members but he has decided to skip travelling to India, reported Pakistan-based The Express Tribune. The two-day meeting will begin on April 27 in Delhi.

Pakistan has announced that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto will be participating in the SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Goa on May 4-5. This will be the first trip by a Pak foreign minister since 2011.

Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu will also be making his first trip to India to attend the meeting held later this week, reported The Global Times. "The Chinese Defence Ministry said that from Thursday to Friday (April 27-28), the Chinese Defence Minister will take part in SCO and will make a speech and meet with the head of delegations from other countries," reported the outlet.

Issues related to regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within SCO, and effective multilateralism are to be topics for the gathering.

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu will also be in attendance.

SCO has China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan as members. For the defence Ministers Meeting, representatives of two observer nations - Belarus and Iran - will also be joining.