Islamabad to host 30th ECO Foreign Ministers’ meeting on November 15–16 under Pakistan’s chairmanship
Pakistan will host the 30th Meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad on November 15–16 under its 2026–27 chairmanship
Aamir Abbasi
Editor, Islamabad
Aamir; a journalist with 15 years of experience, working in Newspaper, TV and Digital Media. Worked in Field, covered Big Legal Constitutional and Political Events in Pakistan since 2009 with Pakistan’s Top Media Organizations. Graduate of Quaid I Azam University Islamabad.
The 28th Meeting of the ECO Council of Ministers (COM) was held on December 3, 2024 in Mashhad, Iran.
Picture Courtesy: ECO
The 30th Meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Council of Foreign Ministers will convene in Islamabad on November 15–16, 2026, withPakistan seeking to advance regional connectivity, economic integration, and collective prosperity under its 2026–2027 chairmanship of the regional bloc.
Chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the two-day conference will bring together foreign ministers and heads of delegations from ECO member states alongside senior representatives of the ECO Secretariat and its specialized subsidiary bodies.
What preparatory proceedings and agenda items lead into the ministerial session?
The ministerial gathering will be preceded by a Meeting of Senior Officials (SOM) from ECO member states, which will review the organization’s ongoing programmes, evaluate the performance of its subsidiary agencies, and finalize the formal agenda and draft outcome documents for consideration by the foreign ministers.
Pakistan assumed the chairmanship of the 10-nation organization—which connects Pakistan, Iran, Türkiye, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—for the 2026–2027 term under the overarching theme “Reviving Regionalism for a Resilient ECO”.
How does Pakistan plan to advance connectivity and regional trade?
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan will use its chairmanship to reinvigorate the ECO as an effective platform for multilateral dialogue, sustainable development, and economic collaboration.
Islamabad aims to position itself as a central regional connectivity hub by facilitating cross-border logistics, streamlining transit trade corridors, and linking landlocked Central Asian republics with global markets through Pakistan’s Arabian Sea ports.
Officials stated that the initiatives are designed to unlock the region’s considerable economic potential and ensure that multilateral cooperation translates into tangible socioeconomic improvements across member states.
Which key diplomatic dynamics surround the Islamabad gathering?
The ministerial conference carries heightened diplomatic significance amid evolving regional security and geopolitical currents. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is among the prominent regional envoys expected to attend the summit in Islamabad, where he is also scheduled to hold bilateral consultations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, alongside high-level representation from Türkiye.
Meanwhile, diplomatic sources confirmed that the Afghan Taliban administration has not been invited to participate in the Islamabad ministerial session amid strained bilateral relations and Islamabad’s ongoing counter-terrorism and border security concerns.
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