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Pakistan will host 30th Meeting of the ECO Council of Ministers in Islamabad on November 15-16 with an aim to strengthen regional connectivity and integration, said the Foreign Office on Saturday. In a statement, the FO said the meeting will be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, and will be attended by foreign ministers and heads of delegations of ECO member states, along with representatives of the ECO secretariat and its subsidiary bodies. Iran, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and five Central Asian republics are among the 10 member states of the ECO. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to attend the huddle in Islamabad amid ongoing Middle East conflict with mediators Pakistan and Qatar making efforts to broker peace deal between Iran and the US The Foreign Office further said that the ministerial meeting will be preceded by the Meeting of Senior Officials (SOM) of ECO Member States, which will review the activities and programmes of the organisation, assess the work of its subsidiary bodies, and finalise the agenda and draft outcome documents for consideration by the ministers during COM. As chair of the ECO for 2026-2027, Pakistan will seek to advance the Organisation’s objectives under the theme “Reviving Regionalism for a Resilient ECO,” it added. Pakistan’s chairmanship, the FO said, will focus on strengthening regional connectivity and deepening regional integration to strengthen regional partnerships, and promote collective efforts towards greater prosperity, sustainable development, and a more integrated and resilient ECO region. “This would also provide an opportunity to reinvigorate the ECO’s role as an effective platform for regional cooperation, dialogue, and economic collaboration.” Pakistan’s chairmanship of the ECO offers an opportunity to position the country as a regional connectivity hub, facilitator of logistic supply chains and an agenda setter for regional trade, it added. “These efforts will contribute towards unlocking the region’s considerable economic potential and ensuring that the benefits of regional cooperation are translated into tangible improvements in the lives of the people of ECO Member States.” Meanwhile, Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, arrived in Islamabad to participate in the 30th ECO Council of Ministers Meeting, the FO said.
