Pakistan's Foreign Minister to participate in Trans-Himalaya Forum in Tibet

Islamabad: Pakistan’s interim Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani will visit China to participate in the 3rd Trans-Himalaya Forum for International Cooperation to be held in Tibet on October 4-5, according to a media report here.

The Forum meeting is being held at Nyingchi in Tibet Autonomous Region, 400 km east of Lhasa and, north of and very near to Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district.

“The foreign minister is undertaking the visit at the special invitation of the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency reported, quoting the Foreign Office on Monday.

The Trans-Himalaya Forum was initiated in 2018 to deepen practical cooperation among regional countries on diverse subjects, including geographical connectivity, environmental protection, ecological preservation, and enhancing cultural linkages, the report said.

The last in-person meeting of the Forum was held in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in China and led to worldwide lockdowns.

The theme of this year’s Forum is “Ecological Civilization and Environmental Protection.” The Foreign Office in a statement said that Foreign Minister Jilani will address the opening ceremony of the Trans-Himalaya Forum.

On the sidelines, he will meet with several regional dignitaries, including the Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia, the Foreign Minister of China and the Interim Foreign Minister of Afghanistan.