Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) called off its protest on Tuesday as the 23rd meeting of the council of the heads of the government of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) begins in Pakistan under stringent security measures.
The two-day meeting is supposed to discuss ongoing cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, environment, and socio-cultural linkages and review the performance of the organisation.
Pakistan took the chair of the SCO CHG, which is the second highest forum within the SCO, for 2023-24 at the previous meeting, held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in October 2023.
The CHG meeting will be chaired by the prime minister of the host nation, Pakistan.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Belarus Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko, Kazakhstan Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Tajik Prime Minister Kohir Rasulzoda, Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov, Kyrgyzstan’s Chairman of Ministers Cabinet Zhaparov Akylbek, Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, and Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are taking part in this year’s SCO meet.
As news of the various heads visiting Pakistan reached the opposition parties, including the PTI on Monday night, they agreed to call off their strike in the capital after the government assurance that a medical team will be allowed to visit and meet Imran Khan, former PM and PTI founder.
The party had announced a protest to push the government to allow its leaders to meet Khan in jail after authorities stopped meetings with inmates in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, where Khan is lodged, ahead of the SCO meeting.
“After long consideration and negotiations that went back and forth... we decided to call off the protest,” Khan’s international spokesman Zulfiqar Bukhari said in a WhatsApp voice message.
He also said that the PTI was also urged by its political allies and friendly embassies to postpone the protest.
Strict security measures have been taken by the authorities to prevent any untoward incident as heads of various countries have arrived in Pakistan for the meeting.
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