ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif departed from the Nur Khan Airbase today to attend the two-day meeting of the Heads of State Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Kazakhstan.

The premier is accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir and Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz. 

On the sidelines of the two-day summit, the prime minister will be holding bilateral meetings with the presidents of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, as well as the Mongolian and Russian presidents.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be attending the conference, as India too will be granted full membership of the SCO.

Sources said a chance meeting between Sharif and Modi is possible on the sidelines of the summit. 

With the inclusion of Pakistan and India, the SCO will have a total of eight states as permanent members ? after China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Other observer states and governments and international organisations are also part of the group. 

The group will then represent nearly half of the world?s population after the inclusion of the subcontinental neighbours.  

A group photo at the SCO summit in Russia in 2015. Photo: Reuters

Pakistan and India both currently hold observer status at SCO. The decision, in principle, to grant Pakistan the membership was taken by the SCO Heads of States meeting at Ufa, Russia in 2015.

The prime minister will also attend the inaugural ceremony of the International Expo 2017, in which more than 100 countries, including Pakistan, are participating.