On July 15, 2025, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister strengthened diplomatic ties in Beijing. “Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met with China’s President Xi Jinping on Tuesday as he represented Pakistan in a joint call of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states,” as reported by Dawn.
This meeting sets the stage for the SCO’s annual summit in Tianjin this autumn. “The SCO is a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members include China, Russia, Pakistan, India, and Iran. The group’s foreign ministers meet as a precursor to the annual summit of its leaders, which will be hosted by China this autumn in Tianjin,” the statement confirmed.
Dar expressed enthusiasm for the engagement, stating on X: “In a post on X today, Dar said he was ‘delighted’ to meet with Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing before the SCO meeting and conveyed the ‘warm greetings of the leadership, government and people of Pakistan’.”
He emphasized the deep ties: “‘As iron-clad brothers and all-weather strategic cooperative partners, we remain committed to deepening Pak-China enduring friendship and advancing shared regional goals,’ he posted on X.” The Chinese president echoed this sentiment, “underlined the ‘salience of regional cooperation’ under the ambit of the SCO,” per Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa).
“Shortly later, Dar arrived in Tianjin along with other foreign ministers to lead Pakistan’s delegation to the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting,” joined by diplomats like India’s Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Russia’s Sergei Lavrov.
Dar’s arrival in Beijing was marked by a warm reception from “Ambassador Yu Hong and other senior officials of the Asian Affairs department of China’s Mofa, as well as Pakistan’s ambassador to China, Khalil ur Rehman Hashmi.” On the sidelines, “Dar also met with the foreign ministers of various SCO member states,” including Kazakhstan’s Murat Nurtleu and Kyrgyzstan’s Zheenbek Moldokanovic, reaffirming bilateral ties. X posts show regional optimism for SCO collaboration, though some highlight tensions with India.