Modi to address plenary session of SCO summit |
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the plenary session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit virtually on September 17, being held in the Tajikistan capital of Dushanbe amidst neighbouring Afghanistan under Taliban rule. The 21st Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State will be held on September 17 in Dushanbe in a hybrid format. The meeting will be chaired by the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon. Indian Prime Minister Modi will lead the Indian delegation and address the plenary session of the Summit via video-link, while India will be represented at Dushanbe by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. The SCO Summit will be attended by the leaders of the SCO Member States, Observer States, Secretary-General of the SCO, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), President of Turkmenistan and other invited guests, an official statement said. This is the first SCO Summit being held in a hybrid format and the fourth Summit that India will participate in as a full-fledged member of SCO. Summit leaders are expected to review the organization`s activities over the past two decades and discuss the state and prospects of future cooperation. Topical issues of regional and international importance are also expected to be discussed, it said. In 2017, India and Pakistan became members of the regional body that focuses on political, security, and economic issues.The SCO was established in 2001 with six founding members -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia and Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. With India and Pakistan, the SCO has eight member states currently. It has four observer countries - Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia. Tehran is soon to become a full member of the SCO. Iran`s participation will also be important in view of the situation in Afghanistan.
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