Islamabad – May 8, 2026
The Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization Dr. Asad M. Khan held a meeting with the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, H.E. Amna Baloch, in Islamabad.
The Secretary General expressed sincere appreciation to the Foreign Secretary for Pakistan’s extraordinary diplomatic role in facilitating de-escalation in the region and hosting the US-Iran peace talks in Islamabad in April 2026 and expressed the hope that Pakistan’s efforts will contribute to a durable and lasting stabilization of the regional environment. Acknowledging the challenging geopolitical environment in the region, Dr. Khan informed Ms. Baloch that the ECO Secretariat has continued to keep the organization operational under extraordinarily difficult circumstances, conducting virtual meetings, and sustaining its work program.
The meeting discussed the priorities of Pakistan’s chairmanship of the Organization during 2026-2027. Dr. Khan and Foreign Secretary Baloch exchanged views about fostering regional economic cooperation under the ECO framework in priority areas.
They further reviewed status of upcoming important events in ECO agenda, while noting that ECO will maintain the momentum with the scheduled Ministerial Meetings on Environment (Uzbekistan), Industry (Tajikistan), Energy (Turkiye), Agriculture (Iran), Tourism (Azerbaijan) and DRR (Pakistan) in 2026, as well as the Regional Planning Committee meeting and finalization of the ECO Strategic Goals 2035.
