Daily Times

The federal government said on Tuesday that Pakistan will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization-Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) Legal Experts meeting on May 23 (today)-25.

This will be the first ever SCO meeting to be hosted in Pakistan since the country became a member of the body in June 2017, the Foreign Ministry (FM) statement said.

In a significant development, Indian delegation is also expected to join the meeting that will be attended by legal experts from all the eight member states -China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.

Legal experts from these countries will get together to discuss terrorist threats facing the region and ways and means to enhance counter terrorism cooperation between member states, the FM statement said.

“Pakistan welcomes delegations from SCO member states to Islamabad and supports SCO’s efforts for regional cooperation in fighting terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime. We are ready to share our experiences in tackling the menace of terrorism through the SCO-RATS,” the statement continued.

The SCO was founded at a Summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It has four members with observer states, including Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia.

Published in Daily Times, May 23^rd 2018.