PTI announces protest at Islamabad’s D-Chowk during SCO summit

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced protest at Islamabad’s D-Chowk on October 15—the day the country would host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in the federal capital—to seek the incarcerated former prime minister’s release.

“We announce the cancellation of the protest in the districts of Punjab in view of the preparations for the peaceful protest of D-Chowk on October 15,” the PTI said in a statement on X after the party’s political committee meeting on Friday.

Pakistan is set to host a two-day SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Islamabad on October 15 and 16, with leaders from the bloc attending the event.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will also visit the country to participate in the summit.

Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang would also arrive in Pakistan where a MoU is expected to be signed for the reprofiling of debt related to power projects amounting to $15.4 billion under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The SCO, which includes India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, is a significant economic and security bloc that has become one of the largest trans-regional international organizations.