Prime ministers from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will also be present, along with Iran's First Vice President and India's External Affairs Minister.
The Prime Minister of Mongolia, an SCO observer state, and Turkmenistan's Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers will join as special guests.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will chair the 23rd Council of Heads of Government (CHG) meeting on 15-16 October in his role as the current SCO CHG chair. Bilateral meetings with visiting leaders are also planned on the sidelines of the summit.
“The CHG meeting will review ongoing cooperation in economy, trade, environment, and socio-cultural links,” the Foreign Office said. "Leaders will also adopt organisational decisions to strengthen ties between member states."
This is the first major regional conference Pakistan has hosted in years, prompting heightened security measures in the capital.
The federal government has announced a three-day public holiday in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, following a recent terrorist attack in Karachi that killed two Chinese engineers.
The high-level attendance demonstrates that SCO members remain undeterred by the attack.
Apart from India, whose representation remains at the ministerial level, all other states will be represented by either their prime ministers or vice president.
The SCO, founded in 2001 by China, Russia, and Central Asian nations, aims to promote regional stability and cooperation. It has since expanded to include India, Pakistan, and Iran as full members, with Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia as observers.Afghanistan will not participate in the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, that will take place in Islamabad on October 15 and 16, as it has not received an invitation from the bloc's Secretariat.
Afghanistan's absence from the summit is confirmed after it was revealed that the SCO Secretariat did not extend an invitation to the country, according to Express News.
This decision also underscores Afghanistan's current status within the organisation, as it is classified as an observer state rather than a full member.
Diplomatic sources indicate that Afghanistan's membership in the SCO has been inactive since September 2021. The country became an SCO observer on June 7, 2012, but has not engaged actively since its membership was rendered.
Pakistan, the host country for the summit, is expected to welcome leaders from various nations and around 200 delegations.
Reports indicate that the Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan has not acknowledged many provisions of the SCO-Afghan agreement, making recognition of the agreement essential for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
In contrast to Afghanistan, Mongolia has been invited to attend the summit as an observer state.
The SCO remains focused on fostering regional cooperation and security, with significant participation anticipated at the upcoming meeting.
