Islamabad gears up for ECO moot as Turkish, Azeri, Kazakh officials arrive

Foreign dignitaries continue to arrive in Islamabad as the capital gears up to host the two-day 30th meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) Council of Ministers starting today.

Among the visiting dignitaries is Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Musa Kulaklikaya, who was received by Foreign Office (FO) officials upon his arrival, the FO said on Sunday.

Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Deputy Secretary General Ahmad Saidmurodzoda, Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Issagaliyev and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Secretary General Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed are also among those who have reached Islamabad for the meeting.

On Saturday, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Tahsin Ertugruloglu also arrived in Islamabad to participate in the meeting.

The ECO’s ministerial meeting will be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and attended by foreign ministers and heads of delegations from ECO member states, along with representatives of the organisation’s secretariat and subsidiary bodies.

It will be preceded by a gathering of senior officials from ECO member states, who will review the organisation’s activities and programmes, assess the work of its subsidiary bodies and finalise the agenda and draft outcome documents for consideration by the ministers.

Pakistan, which holds the ECO chairmanship for 2026-27, will seek to advance the organisation’s objectives under the theme “Reviving Regionalism for a Resilient ECO”, the FO said in a statement on Saturday.

It said Pakistan’s chairmanship would focus on strengthening regional connectivity and integration, deepening partnerships and promoting collective efforts for economic prosperity and sustainable development.

The chairmanship would also provide an opportunity to strengthen the ECO’s role as a platform for regional cooperation, dialogue and economic collaboration, it added.

According to the FO, Pakistan also aims to position itself as a regional connectivity hub, facilitate logistics supply chains and help shape the agenda for regional trade.

The efforts would help unlock the region’s economic potential and translate the benefits of regional cooperation into tangible improvements in the lives of people in ECO member states, the statement said.

Currently, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Turkiye, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan are part of the ECO.