PM Modi to chair SCO Leaders’ Summit on July 4, Putin and Xi Jinping set to attend virtual meeting

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the 23rd Summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State which will be held virtually under India’s first-ever Chairmanship of the grouping on July 4.

All the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), including China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, have been invited to attend the Summit hosted by India.

India assumed the rotating Chairmanship of SCO at the Samarkand Summit on September 16, last year.

Iran, Belarus and Mongolia have been invited as Observer States while, as per SCO tradition, Turkmenistan has also been invited as the guest of the Chair. Heads of the two SCO Bodies – the Secretariat and the SCO RATS – will also be present. Further, Heads of six international and regional organizations have also been invited, viz. UN, ASEAN, CIS, CSTO, EAEU and CICA.

The theme of the Summit is ‘Towards a SECURE SCO’. The SECURE acronym was coined by Prime Minister Modi at the 2018 SCO Summit and stands for Security; Economy and Trade; Connectivity; Unity; Respect for Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity; and Environment. These themes have been highlighted during India’s Chairmanship of SCO.

India has set up new pillars of cooperation under its Chairmanship – Startups and Innovation; Traditional Medicine; Digital Inclusion; Youth Empowerment; and Shared Buddhist Heritage. In addition, India has worked towards fostering greater people-to-people ties that celebrate the historical and civilizational bonds between our nations. These include the various socio-cultural events hosted by Varanasi under the framework of the first-ever SCO Cultural and Tourist Capital for 2022-23.

“India’s Chairmanship of SCO has been a period of intense activity and mutually beneficial cooperation between Member States. India has hosted a total of 134 meetings and events, including 14 Ministerial-level meetings,” said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

“India remains committed to play a positive and constructive role in the organization, and looks forward to a successful SCO Summit as the culmination of its Chairmanship,” it added.