External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will come face to face with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Tajikistan’s capital city of Dushanbe this week during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council meeting.

The SCO foreign ministers’ meet will take place on July 13-14 and the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan is expected to be a key point on the agenda.

The SCO contact group on Afghanistan will also evolve a strategy for the future of Afghanistan. A joint statement will also be issued by the SCO contact group on Afghanistan.

During the SCO National Security Chiefs’ meet last month, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval had proposed an action plan against Pakistan-based terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

While there is no likelihood of a pull aside meeting with Pakistan, S Jaishankar will hold bilateral meetings with ministers from other member states.

Jaishankar's second stop will be Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on July 15 and 16 for an international connectivity summit named "Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities".

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev had invited all regional players for the conference that will see participation by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and even the US special representative on the peace process Zalmay Khalilzad.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be travelling to Tashkent in the wake of the Covid-19 situation back home.

The summit will have three common themes of discussion -- economy, security, culture. The summit will focus on historical ties between Central and South Asia.

Leaders from India, Pakistan, Russia, Iran, China, the US, and the EU will also be participating in the summit.