ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday cancelled his visit to Kyrgyzstan scheduled on Nov 2 in the face of the political situation back home which has acquired ugly look due to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf protest and their plan to lock down Islamabad.

Officials in the government informed that now the prime minister would be represented by Sartaj Aziz in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conference scheduled to start at Kishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan from Nov 2.

The SCO, previously known as the Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.