Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the Indian delegation on Tuesday to the 20th Summit of SCO Council of Heads of States, which is being held virtually.
The meeting will be chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Heads of States of all 8 Member States, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will be present at the meeting. Heads of State of 4 Observer States of SCO, Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia will also participate. Leaders of the Member States will address the summit.
This will be the first SCO Summit to be held in virtual format and this is the third meeting that India will be participating as full member. India was granted observer status of SCO in 2005 and it became full member in 2017. In the last three years, India has maintained extensive engagement in all fields under the SCO framework.
The SCO Summit of Heads of State is the main body of the organization that sets forth the Agenda and the main directions for the organization for the next year. It deals with all the main areas of the activity of the organization including political, security, trade, economic and cultural.
During the meeting, the Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-terrorist Structure (SCO RATS) will make his interventions. The Summit will end with the adoption of the Moscow Declaration. There will also be SCO Statements on issues like the Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of World War II, Digital Economy, COVID-19, Countering the Spread of Terrorism Including on the Internet and Countering the Drug Threat.
