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Pakistan will not take part in the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s chief justice meeting, which is set to occur in New Delhi between March 10 and 12, 2024.
The spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Office, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said, “Pakistan takes part in all SCO events as an active member and contributes positively to their results.”
In the statement, it was mentioned that the Chief Justice of Pakistan expressed “his apologies to his Indian counterpart, because of his unavoidable commitments that prevent him from joining the SCO Chief Justices meeting taking place from March 10 to 12, 2024.”
All SCO member countries, including the recently added member Iran, will be in-person present at the SCO Chief Justices meeting hosted by India, except for Pakistan.
Moreover, the SCO foreign ministers meeting is scheduled to take place in Goa in May, and India has extended an invitation to Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to participate. However, Pakistan has not yet confirmed if the foreign minister will attend the event.
Pakistan’s rough phase
Pakistan is presently suffering from the worst of its economic crisis, which has led to the depletion of foreign reserves, mounting debt loans, and an all-time currency hike which is positioned at Pakistani Rs 262 against the US dollar.
Adding to the woes, inflation in Pakistan is 58 years high, which has led to a significant increase of about 50% in food and transportation.
Moreover, terrorism is rising in Pakistan; TTP (Tehreek E- Taliban Pakistan), an Islamic militant organisation that is closely associated with the Afghan Taliban, is perpetually attacking Pakistani security forces.
It seems ironic that when the Afghan Taliban restored to power in Afghanistan in 2021, Pakistan gave complete moral, material, and international support to the group.
But now Pakistan’s move is backfiring: TTP is using Pakistan’s soil to inflate terrorism against Pakistan, and bankrupt Pakistan is giving money to the Afghan Taliban to control the activities of TTP in Pakistan.
The news that the Chief Justice of Pakistan will not be attending the SCO meeting comes at a time when the US Intelligence Community has shown its concern related to growing tensions between India and Pakistan, both of which are nuclear power countries.
India, under the present leadership of Narendra Modi, has made it clear that terrorism and talk cannot happen simultaneously, and any attack on Indian territory will be retaliated with equal power and force.
The major bone of contention, “the Kashmir issue”, still persists and has from time to time become the cause of escalations and cross-border firings.
SCO Meeting
The current presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is held by India, which is composed of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The theme chosen by India for the 2024 SCO Summit is ‘Towards a Secure SCO’, which represents the focus areas of the summit. SECURE stands for: “S” for safeguarding the security of citizens, ‘E’ for promoting economic development, ‘C’ for enhancing connectivity within the region, ‘U’ for fostering unity, ‘R’ for upholding respect for sovereignty and integrity, and ‘E’ for prioritising environmental protection.
The meeting of transport, culture and defence ministers is anticipated to be held by India in April.
In the meantime, the foreign ministers’ meeting is expected to take place in Goa in May, followed by a summit in Delhi on June 25.
India is chairing both the G20 and SCO groups this year. This is a once-in-a-time opportunity that has come to India to pitch its aspirations and dreams as a South Asian country. India should use both platforms to secure political, economic, and international security.
