ISLAMABAD – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi can pull a surprise by attending the Shanghai Cooperation Council (SCO) Summit scheduled to be held in Islamabad next month, said Murtaza Solangi.

He expressed these views in “The Weekend”, a weekly program which is joint production of the Stratheia and WE News. It is jointly hosted by Muhammad Ali with the weekly episode uploaded on YouTube every Saturday.

Solangi was responding to a question raised by Ali about the prospects of Modi accepting the invitation extended by Pakistan.

The two-day SCO Summit would be held in Islamabad on Oct 15 and 16. Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang is also among those attending event. He will arrive in the capital on Oct 14, which is the first visit by the Chinese prime minister in 11 years.

Solangi said he could not rule out the possibility. “Modi is Modi. He can do anything,” he remarked and recalled the even the Indian high commissioner didn’t know about the visit when Modi suddenly reached Lahore to meet the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif at his Jati Umra residence on Dec 15, 2015.

DIPLOMATIC MASTERSTROKE

Both Solangi and Ali agreed that the invitation represents shrewd diplomacy on the part of Pakistan.

“Inviting Modi is a gritty diplomatic move,” he said, showing that “we are not an abnormal state”.

The reasoning behind the invitation is the fact that the SCO is a multilateral organization and the approach adopted by Islamabad shows it knows how to deal with the international affairs.

It is worth recalling that the SCO 2023 Summit – formally called SCO Heads of State Council Meeting – on July 4 in India was a videoconference as Modi decided not to host the then prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Chinese leadership.

Earlier, the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting was held in Goa in May 2023. Pakistan at that time too showed maturity and sent the then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to attend the event.

That’s why Bilawal had stolen the show as the entire media was focused on him.

IMRAN, FAIZ AND MILITARY COURT

Solangi mentioned that the ISPR director general in his last press conference had not ruled out the possibility of Imran facing trial under the Army Act. However, he would have an open trial in case he was found to be a co-accused as former ISI chief Lt-Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed was also going through the court-martial process, he said.

Ali recalled that Imran and his party had been changing their stance on Faiz who was first declared an asset. But later, he said, it was listed as an internal matter of Pakistan Army. However, they were currently shying away from even discussing the matter, Ali remarked.

They were trying to protect themselves from the fallout, Solangi noted.

PTI RALLY WON’T PRODUCE ANYTHING 

The PTI rally is again ready to organize a rally in Islamabad on Sunday after cancelling the plan several times. When asked whether Imran’s party is going to invade the federal capital, Solangi predicted that it won’t happen as they were part of the system.

About the possible demands, he said there would be tough talk only. However, he added, law should take its course if there were any criminal cases against the party leaders. Focusing on street politics instead of the parliament had hurt the PTI, he added.

AMENDMENTS IN ATA

Media is now abuzz with the proposed amendments in the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) which are meant for empowering the security forces with the growing threat of terrorist activities in Balochistan.

“It is an extraordinary situation, especially in Balochistan,” Solangi said. “Extraordinary situation warrants extraordinary measures.”

As the proposed changes will help dealing with the missing persons issue, he said it would be sunset clause, not permanent feature.

A sunset clause is a measure within a legislation which provides for the law to cease to be effective after a specified date. It cannot be extended without further legislative action.

However, Solangi noted that the government was taking other remedial steps too to tackle the challenge in Balochistan. “It is not just coercive measures.”

DEMOCRACY AND SOCIAL MEDIA

According to Solangi, some polls suggest that Kamala Harris has better chances of winning against Donald Trump in the US presidential election.

Many believe that social media has a become a threat to democracy, he said and mentioned that Elon Musk joining any future Trump government would not be a good development. It was going to ensure concentration of powers and thus monopoly instead of decentralization, he noted.