India to host 19th summit of SCO council of govt heads

KABUL (Pajhwok): Indian President Shri Venkaiah Naidu will chair the 19th meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government to be hosted by New Delhi in virtual format on November 30.

It will be the first time that a summit-level meeting will be held under India’s chairmanship, since the country gained full-membership of the organization in 2017.

The summit is held annually at the level of Prime Ministers of SCO and deals primarily with trade and economic agenda of the organization.

In a statement, India Ministry of External Affairs said India considers the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as an important regional organization to promote cooperation in the areas of peace, security, trade, economy and culture.

“India is committed to widening our cooperation with SCO by playing a proactive, positive and constructive role in the organization.”

​India assumed the Chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of Government on November 2, 2019 as per rotation from the previous Chair – Uzbekistan and will complete its year-long tenure on November 30, 2020 by hosting the 19th session of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG).

The Prime Ministers from SCO Member States of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will attend the SCO meeting.

Pakistan will be represented by the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Apart from the SCO Member States, the four Observer States of SCO will also participate- including the President of Afghanistan, the First Vice President of Iran, the Prime Minister of Belarus and the Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia.

Turkmenistan has been invited as a Special Guest of the host and will be represented by the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The two bodies of SCO will be represented by the SCO Secretary General and the Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti Terrorist Structure (RATS).

The Chairmen of the SCO Business Council and the SCO Interbank Association will also be present.

Pr/ma

Views: 4