India to Host 22nd SCO Summit Virtually: Focus on ‘SECURE SCO’

New Delhi: India is set to host the 22nd summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) virtually on July 4. This summit marks India’s assumption of the rotating chairmanship of the SCO since September 16 last year at the Samarkand Summit.

The event will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by all SCO member states – China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

In addition, Observer States Iran, Belarus, and Mongolia have also been invited, along with Turkmenistan as the guest of the Chair, following SCO tradition.

The theme chosen for this year’s Summit is ‘Towards a SECURE SCO’, a term coined by PM Modi during the 2018 SCO Summit. SECURE stands for Security, Economy and Trade, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity, and Environment.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) highlighted that India’s Chairmanship of the SCO has fostered active engagement and fruitful cooperation among Member States. To date, India has successfully hosted a significant number of meetings and events, including 14 Ministerial-level gatherings, totalling 134 in number.

The SCO was established in June 2001 in Shanghai and initially consisted of six founding members: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined as full members in 2017. This influential transregional international organization has gained prominence as both an economic and security bloc, playing a pivotal role in the region.