Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join the heads of state of China and Pakistan at the virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Tuesday, which is expected to set the agency’s agenda for next year.
This is the first time that the annual meeting of the SCO heads of state has been held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Russia, the current president of the SCO, has organized most of the group’s meetings practically this year, with the exception of the meetings of foreign and defense ministers that were held in Moscow in September.
The SCO Summit, which takes place in the context of the border confrontation between India and China, is one of five virtual meetings this month that the top leaders of the two countries will join.
President Vladimir Putin will chair Tuesday’s virtual meeting and the heads of state of the eight members of the SCO (Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) will speak for 10 minutes. The heads of state of four observer countries – Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia – will join the meeting, and the SCO Secretary General and the Executive Director of the SCO Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure (RATS) will also address the meeting.
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The SCO Summit is the main body of the grouping that sets the agenda and the main directions for the coming year. The meeting is expected to focus on all major areas of activity, including politics, security, trade and the economy, and will conclude with the adoption of the Moscow Declaration containing the joint position of members on global issues and regional.
There will also be statements on topics such as the digital economy, Covid-19, the fight against terrorism, including on the Internet, and the fight against drug trafficking. The summit is also expected to make decisions on major projects and business and economic initiatives.
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Modi, who has led the Indian delegation to the annual summit since India became a full member of the SCO in 2017, had outlined his vision with the acronym HEALTH, which encompasses health cooperation, economic cooperation, alternative energy, literature. and culture, a society free from terrorism. and humanitarian cooperation – at last year’s summit in Bishkek.
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