Pakistan will host a two-day regional summit on Tuesday, amid a precarious security situation that has prevented such meetings in the past.
The 23rd summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) – which was established by Russia, China and other countries to discuss security issues – will focus on regional cooperation, trade and financial integrity among member states, the Foreign Ministry said.
Seven prime ministers, including those of old ally China, and the foreign minister of arch-rival India are attending the summit in locked-down Islamabad.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will chair the Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting and is expected to hold meetings with regional leaders on the sidelines of the event.
Bilateral talks between Pakistan and India are not expected.
More than 10,000 police, paramilitary and army personnel have been deployed while markets and schools in the capital are closed for three days.
The arrangements reflect the volatile security situation amid a wave of violence by various separatist groups.
Earlier this month, the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) killed two Chinese engineers in Karachi and 20 miners in a separate attack.
At least five militants were killed on Monday when they tried to storm a police headquarters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district.
