Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in Dushanbe on Monday to lead Pakistan’s delegation to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Heads of Government meeting on October 19 and 20. Beyond the two-day programme, the visit marks Pakistan’s first major SCO outing since it assumed the chairmanship of the bloc’s Council of Heads of State in September, with the 2027 leaders’ summit scheduled in Islamabad. The meeting is expected to adopt a joint communique along with statements and decisions on economic cooperation, trade and regional connectivity.
What the Council of Heads of Government actually does
The Council of Heads of Government is the SCO’s second-highest decision-making body, one level below the Council of Heads of State where presidents and prime ministers meet. Its business is economic: finance, trade, connectivity, commerce, socio-economic cooperation and the organisation’s own budget, according to the Foreign Office statement issued on Monday. Unlike the leaders’ summits that produce the headlines, the heads-of-government meeting is where the bloc’s working machinery gets its instructions and its money. The Dushanbe session is the 25th meeting of the council, according to India’s defence ministry announcement. Decisions taken here flow upward into the joint communique, which member states negotiate line by line. The innovation and digital agenda is part of that mix, and it sits close to Pakistan’s own technology push this month, including the digital and AI compact Pakistan is about to sign.
Why this gathering matters more for Pakistan
Pakistan is coming to Dushanbe wearing a different hat than before. It hosted this same Council of Heads of Government meeting in Islamabad in October 2024. Then, at the annual SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan in September, it assumed the chairmanship of the Council of Heads of State for 2027, Dawn reported. Pakistan also chairs the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure for 2025-26. The 2027 summit is scheduled to be held in Islamabad, and Dar chaired a follow-up meeting on October 1 to review preparations for it. That makes this week’s session in Dushanbe a working preview of the chairmanship year: the economic decisions and the communique language agreed here will set part of the agenda Pakistan inherits as it steers the bloc toward 2027. Dar, who was also chairing the government’s wheat-stock review last Thursday, now carries both the economic brief and the diplomatic one, a pairing visible in the wheat support price debate roiling the country’s farmers.
Who is sitting at the table
The meeting brings together the prime ministers of Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, along with Iran’s vice president. On India’s representation, the Foreign Office statement said New Delhi would be represented by its external affairs minister, while Indian media carrying an ANI feed reported that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh left New Delhi on Monday to represent India at the meeting. The sidelines are where much of the real business happens: the Foreign Office said Dar will call on Tajikistan’s president and prime minister and hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from member states on the margins of the two-day session.
The Tajikistan track
Dar’s bilateral programme begins with the host country itself. On arrival in Dushanbe he was received by Tajikistan’s Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Daler Juma, who also co-chairs the Pakistan-Tajikistan Joint Commission, along with Pakistan’s Ambassador to Tajikistan, Irfan Ahmed, and the country’s National Coordinator for the SCO, Khalil Hashmi. The Joint Commission is the main bilateral vehicle between the two countries, and the choice of the energy and water resources minister to receive Dar signals where Islamabad wants the conversation to go. Dar will also call on the Tajik president and prime minister during the visit, according to the Foreign Office.
What to watch next
The first test of the trip lands on Tuesday, when the council is expected to adopt its joint communique, statements and decisions. Watch the language on connectivity and trade facilitation, because that is the section Pakistan will most want to carry into its 2027 summit year. The bilateral readouts from Dar’s sideline meetings will matter just as much, since they show where Islamabad is spending its diplomatic capital ahead of the chairmanship. And looking further ahead, the 2027 Islamabad summit will require invitations to all member states; in July, Indian media reported that Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Pakistan would extend invitations to all member states in its capacity as host. For the rest of the day’s developments, see PakMirror’s latest national news from Pakistan and Pakistan business and economy news.
