India formally announced its participation at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan on 4th of July. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India in this bilateral meeting.
The announcement came from the External Affairs Ministry amid PM Narendra Modi’s decision to skip the meeting as he is scheduled to visit Russia from July 8 to 9. The officials said that leaders are expected to evaluate the organization’s activities for the last two decades and also discuss the state and prospects of multilateral cooperation. Matters of regional and international importance are also expected to be discussed.
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‘SECURE’ SCO
India will prioritize the vision of a ‘SECURE SCO’ given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi where SECURE stands for Security, Economic cooperation, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Environmental protection.
Agenda of summit
A range of matters including economic, digital, and energy connectivity initiatives, trade, and regional issues such as the situation in Afghanistan following activities of the Islamic State are expected to figure in the discussions at the SCO Summit. However, there is no official word of an encounter with the Pakistan and China sides.
About SCO
SCO is a political, economic, and military organization that aims to maintain peace, security, and stability in the member countries. It was established in 2001 with the grouping of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India joined SCO as an observer country in 2005 but became a permanent member in 2017 along with Pakistan.
Last year India hosted the 23rd summit of the SCO in a virtual format where Iran joined as the 9th member.
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In the past 10 years, Prime Minister Modi has attended five successive SCO summits held before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, PM Modi in the Uzbekistan summit nudged Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine with his comments: “This is not an era of war”.
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