Pakistan capital under security lockdown before regional SCO summit

As Chinese Premier Li Qiang travels to Pakistan for a four-day visit, where he will also preside over a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) regional summit, the country’s capital is under a strict security lockdown.

Li’s visit is the first by a Chinese premier to Pakistan in 11 years, Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Office said on Monday as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received Li at the airport.

Tuesday and Wednesday in Islamabad are the dates of the SCO meeting, which will feature nine full member nations, including Russia, China, India, Iran, and Iran. China and Russia met to discuss security issues in Central Asia and the surrounding area in 2001.

The SCO participants will be represented by the prime ministers of China, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as well as the vice president of Iran and the external affairs minister of India, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The Pakistani government declared a three-day public holiday in Islamabad for the SCO meeting, with large police and paramilitary forces stationed throughout the city and schools and businesses shut down.

According to the Ministry of Interior, Pakistani soldiers will be in charge of the Red Zone in the capital, where the majority of meetings will be held. Parliament can be found here as well as in this diplomatic enclave.

After Imran Khan’s main opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protested on Tuesday in Islamabad against the government’s decision to meet him with his family, lawyers, and doctors, he was in a tensions have gotten worse since the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which is a member of the jailed former prime minister’s (PTI) party, called for a protest

Early this month, Khan’s supporters rallied in Islamabad to push for his release, leading to clashes with security forces.

In response to armed group fears of violence, Islamabad has also attempted to restrict all Chinese nationals’ movement in the city.

Two Chinese nationals were killed on October 6 in an explosion at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. The Balochistan Liberation Army, a separatist armed group, claimed responsibility.

As Li and Sharif take the helm of their respective delegations to discuss economic and trade ties and cooperation under the $65 billion infrastructure investment under Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Li and Sharif are likely to discuss the attacks on Chinese citizens.