A crucial summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which will be held in India this week, will be attended by the defense ministers of China, Russia, and all other SCO members except from Pakistan.
According to an official summary, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif will participate virtually in the SCO defense ministers' meeting on Friday in New Delhi.
Among those traveling to India to attend the summit are the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu.
The conference, which is anticipated to discuss the regional security situation, especially events in Afghanistan, will be presided over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
“China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will all send defense ministers. India has asked Belarus and Iran, who are now SCO observers, to attend the meeting of the defense ministers, according to the defense ministry.
“The Pakistani Defense Minister will take part digitally. The ministers will talk about issues pertaining to regional peace and security, SCO counterterrorism initiatives, and successful multilateralism, according to a release.
According to the ministry, Singh will meet separately with the participating defense ministers on April 27 and 28 to address bilateral defense-related issues as well as other topics of shared interest.
India and the SCO members, according to the report, have longstanding cultural, spiritual, and civilizational links.
India's 2017 SCO membership was a confirmation of New Delhi's desire to strengthen these long-standing connections. India views the SCO as a crucial regional organization for fostering regional multilateralism in politics, security, trade, and human relations, it added.
According to the ministry, India keeps coming up with new suggestions and projects to improve collaboration among the SCO nations. According to the statement, “India this year under its Chairmanship organized two defense-related activities to improve interoperability among SCO member states.”
The first event was a workshop on disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, while the second was a conference for defense think tanks from SCO nations on the topic of how the armed forces might help with military medicine, healthcare, and pandemics, according to the ministry.
It said, “India stands committed to advancing the SCO Agenda under its chairmanship.”
The presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan established the SCO during a conference in Shanghai in 2001.
It has grown to become one of the biggest worldwide transregional organizations. In 2017, Pakistan and India were admitted as permanent members.
