India

“EAM Jaishankar to lead Indian delegation to SCO Summit in Islamabad”: MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be travelling to Pakistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit scheduled to take place in October.

On being asked about India’s participation in the upcoming SCO Summit, the MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “EAM Jaishankar will lead a delegation to Pakistan to participate in the SCO summit which will be held in Islamabad on October 15-16…”

Earlier in August, India received an invitation from Pakistan for the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) in-person meeting.

Jaiswal, while addressing a weekly media briefing on August 30, confirmed the invitation by Islamabad. Responding to a question at the briefing, Jaiswal had said, “Yes, we have received an invitation from Pakistan for the Council of Heads of State Government meeting (SCO meeting) that is to happen. We don’t have an update on that. We will let you know what the situation is later.”

Earlier in May 2023, Pakistan Foreign Minister Billawal Bhutto Zardari had visited India for the SCO meeting in Goa. This was the first visit by a Foreign Minister of Pakistan to India in six years.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation established on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Its predecessor was the mechanism of the Shanghai Five. Currently, the SCO countries include nine member states: India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.The SCO has three observer states: Afghanistan, Mongolia and Belarus.

At the Samarkand SCO Summit in 2022, the process of raising the status of the Republic of Belarus within the Organisation to the level of a member state started.

The SCO has 14 dialogue partners: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Egypt, Cambodia, Qatar, Kuwait, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Sri Lanka.

ANI

Ani service

Recent Posts

‘Political space given to extremist forces’: EAM Jaishankar on attacks on Hindu temples in Canada

External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar expressed concerns about the recent attacks on the Hindu temples…

24 mins ago

Coast Guard Chief S Paramesh calls on Navy Chief Admiral, deliberates on ICG’s operational readiness

Indian Coast Guard Chief Director General S Paramesh has called on Indian Navy Chief Admiral…

37 mins ago

North Korea launches short-range ballistic missiles ahead of US elections

Just a few hours ahead of the presidential polls in the United States, North Korea…

47 mins ago

Brampton: Thousands take out solidarity rally against attacks on Hindu temples in Canada

Over a thousand Canadian Hindus gathered outside the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton, Canada on…

2 hours ago

Jaishankar meets Australian counterpart Penny Wong for Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue in Canberra

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was welcomed by Australian Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, at the…

2 hours ago

Israel targets Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Syria

Israel on Monday targeted Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Syria. Sharing a post on X, the…

2 hours ago