Afghanistan to be discussed in SCO meeting tomorrow

KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghanistan is likely to be discussed in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in India tomorrow.

India is set to host the leaders of SCO member countries in virtual format on Tuesday, Hindustan Times reported.

The summit will be chaired by India Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will include the participation of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The virtual summit will start at 12:30 pm and conclude around 3 pm. Russian President Vladimir Putin is also expected to join the SCO leaders during the meeting.

Other SCO member states that were invited by India are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

According to the SCO traditions, Turkmenistan has been invited as the guest of the Chair.

Iran, Belarus and Mongolia are invited to the meeting as Observer States. In addition to these attendees, the heads of the SCO Secretariat and SCO RATS (Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure) will also be present during the council meeting.

The summit has extended invitations to the heads of six international and regional organisations, namely the United Nations (UN), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

In September 2022, during the SCO Summit in Samarkand, India assumed the chairmanship of the SCO for the first time, taking over from Uzbekistan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to deliver significant remarks at the SCO Summit.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is also set to participate in the 23rd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State.

Hindustan Times wrote the summit will confer on the situation of regional countries, including Afghanistan, and the fight against terrorism and narcotics.

The newspaper did not say if Afghanistan, an observer member of the organization, has been invited to the summit or not.

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