KARACHI: Chinese premier Li Qiang could inaugurate operations at a Chinese-funded airport in Balochistan during his visit to the country in the coming week, information minister Attaullah Tarar told reporters on Sunday.

The start of operations at the $200-million Gwadar International Airport has been pushed back for a security review after deadly attacks by separatist militants in August in the area, government and aviation sources said.

Li, along with ministers and government officials will visit Pakistan from Oct. 14 to 17, Pakistan’s foreign affairs ministry said on Sunday.

Pakistan is hosting the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which comprises nine full members, including China, India, Iran and Russia, and is scheduled for Oct. 15 and 16 in Islamabad.

The new airport will handle domestic and international flights, according to Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority, and will be one of the country’s biggest airports. The initial plan was for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to inaugurate the airport on Aug. 14 alongside Chinese officials, but that was called off after an ethnic Baloch rights group started a sit-in protest, the officials said.