New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the 22nd summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Heads of State in a virtual format on July 4, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday.
MEA in its statement said, "The 22nd Summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State will be held in the virtual format on 4 July 2023, chaired by PM Narendra Modi."
Notably, last year in September, Uzbekistan handed over the rotating presidency of the eight-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to India in Samarkand.
"The theme of the Summit is ‘Towards a SECURE SCO’. The SECURE acronym was coined by the Prime Minister 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 our Chairmanship of SCO," according to the statement.
India hosted the foreign ministers of the SCO at a two-day conclave in Goa earlier this month.
The MEA said all the SCO member states- China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan- have been invited to attend the summit.
In addition to the member states, Iran, Belarus, and Mongolia have been invited as Observer States.
The statement said, "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."
"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," it further stated.
India has hosted a total of 134 meetings and events, including 14 Ministerial-level meetings.
"India’s Chairmanship of SCO has been a period of intense activity and mutually beneficial cooperation between Member States. 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.
India was made an observer at the SCO in 2005 and has generally participated in the ministerial-level meetings of the grouping, which focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian region.