India is gearing up to host its first-ever Shanghai Cooperation (SCO) summit from 12.30 to 2.45 PM on Tuesday. This will be the first time that an Indian Prime Minister will chair the Heads of States Summit. Prime Minister Narendra 


Besides PM Modi, President of Russia Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Kazakhstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstani president Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistani President Emomali Rahmon, and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev are expected to attend.


Iran, Belarus, and Mongolia have been invited as Observer States. Earlier, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Iran will be admitted to the SCO as a member with full rights. Belarus, too, is likely to get a full-member status at the SCO. However, Mongolia, which became the first Observer State of the SCO in 2004, is yet to apply for full membership in the Eurasian body.


Ahead of the 23rd SCO Heads of States Summit on July 4, here's a look at the highlights of India's presidency:
 
• India’s association with SCO began in 2005 as an Observer country. India became a full Member State of SCO at the Astana Summit in 2017 which was a historic moment in India’s engagement with the Organisation.


• In the past 6 years, India has played a very active and constructive role in all spheres of activities of SCO.
 
• On September 2022, India for the first time, took over the presidency of SCO from Uzbekistan at the Samarkand Summit of SCO.
 
• In the course of India’s presidency, SCO has touched new milestones in the range, depth, and intensity of engagements and interactions across wide-ranging sectors.
 
• The theme for India’s chairmanship of SCO- SECURE is derived from the acronym suggested by PM Modi at the 2018 Qingdao SCO Summit:



  • S : Security

  • E: Economic development

  • C: Connectivity

  • U: Unity

  • R: Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity

  • E: Environmental protection


 
• India created five new pillars and focus areas of cooperation in SCO. These are startups and innovation, traditional medicine, digital inclusion, youth empowerment, and shared Buddhist heritage.  
 
• Two new mechanisms in SCO — Special Working Group on Startups and Innovation and Experts Working Group on Traditional Medicine — were created on India’s initiative.
 
• In line with PM Modi’s call to realise the essence of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (World is one Family), India is focussing on bettering people-to-people connections. Several signature events have been organised under the SCO chairmanship of India to deepen such relations.
 
• There was an unprecedented level of engagement with the SCO Observers and Dialogue Partners under India's chairmanship with their participation in 14 sociocultural events.
 
• To enhance people-to-people connect, events like the SCO Film Festival, SCO Millet Food Festival, SCO Cultural Showcase at SurajKund Mela, SCO Tourism Mart, Conference on Shared Buddhist Heritage, B2B Conference on Traditional Medicine, and SCO International Conference of Think Tanks have been held.
 
• Drawing focus on India’s millennia-old cultural and civilizational heritage, Kashi/ Varanasi was declared the first Tourism and Cultural Capital of SCO 2022-23 last year. 


• Youth empowerment is another focus area for India, events like Young Authors Conference, Young Scientist Conclave, Startup Forum, SCO Youth Council and Conference, and SCO Resident Researchers' Programme were held, enabling young scholars from member states to conduct research activities in India for a month.
 
• India on May 4 hosted the two-day Foreign Ministers' SCO summit in Goa.
 
• EAM Jaishankar on June 27 virtually inaugurated the 'New Delhi Hall' at the SCO secretariat in Beijing under India’s presidency of the SCO. 


• A commemorative stamp was released on June 15 to mark the first-ever SCO presidency of India.