External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India at the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Astana next week, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to skip the event. Modi is set to visit Russia from July 8 to 9, marking his first trip to the country in nearly five years. Following his visit to Russia, Modi is likely to travel to Austria on a two-day trip starting July 9. However, there is no official confirmation on ModiтАЩs visit to the two countries yet.
The SCO summit, scheduled for July 3 and 4, is expected to focus on the regional security situation and ways to boost connectivity and trade among member states. The Indian delegation at the summit will be led by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, according to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
Key issues expected to be discussed at the summit include the situation in Afghanistan, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and enhancing overall security cooperation among SCO member countries. The SCO, which includes India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, is a significant economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.
Typically, the Indian Prime Minister participates in the SCO summit. In a phone conversation on Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi conveyed to Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev IndiaтАЩs full support for the success of the summit. Kazakhstan is hosting the summit as the current chair of the grouping.
India was the chair of the SCO last year and hosted the summit in a virtual format in July. IndiaтАЩs association with the SCO began in 2005 as an observer country, and it became a full member state at the Astana summit in 2017. India has shown keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which focuses on security and defence issues.
The SCO was founded in 2001 at a summit in Shanghai by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Pakistan, along with India, became a permanent member in 2017.
