External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit next week, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Friday.
The SCO summit will be held on July 3-4 in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
“The External Affairs Minister will lead our delegation there,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly briefing here.
Kazakhstan took over the chairmanship of the SCO from India, which was its chair last year. India hosts the SCO summit virtually in July 2023. This year’s host is Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who has proposed the establishment of a joint investment fund, among other initiatives.
In a telephone conversation with the President of Kazakhstan on June 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his full support for the success of the upcoming summit in Astana. During the conversation, the two leaders also reiterated their commitment to continue working together to advance the bilateral strategic partnership.
The Prime Minister expressed confidence that the leadership of Kazakhstan will make a significant contribution to advancing regional cooperation.
“Had a good conversation with the President of Kazakhstan, His Excellency Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Thanked him for his warm wishes for success in the elections,” Prime Minister Modi wrote in a post on Instagram.
“The commitment to further advance our strategic partnership with Kazakhstan was reiterated. India’s full support for the success of the upcoming SCO Summit was expressed,” he said.
Had a good conversation with the President of Kazakhstan His Excellency Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Thanked him for his warm wishes for success in the elections. Reiterated our commitment to further develop our strategic partnership with Kazakhstan. Expressed India’s full support for the success of the elections…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 25, 2024
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021, SCO summits were held virtually.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a political, economic and security grouping founded in 2001. The current members of the SCO are China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Iran will become a full member of the grouping under India’s presidency in 2023. Belarus is an observer country and is next in line to get full membership.
The SCO focuses on regional security, counter-terrorism and economic cooperation among its member states.
The organization covers 60 percent of the Eurasian landmass, 40 percent of the world’s population and 30 percent of the global GDP.
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