New Delhi, ahead of the SCO Summit in Astana, India said on Tuesday that the group's leaders are expected to review its activities over the past two decades and discuss prospects for multilateral cooperation.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India at the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on July 4 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided not to attend.
The summit is expected to include the situation in Afghanistan, the Ukraine conflict and increasing overall security cooperation among SCO member countries.
India's priorities in the SCO are determined by the Prime Minister's vision of a "SAFE" SCO, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
SECURE stands for Security, Economic Cooperation, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and Environmental Protection.
Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation to Astana for the summit, the MEA said.
"At the summit, the leaders are expected to review the organization's activities over the past two decades and discuss the status and prospects of multilateral cooperation," he said.
"The meeting is also expected to discuss current issues of regional and international importance," he said in a statement.
The SCO, comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, is an influential economic and security bloc that has become one of the largest trans-regional international organizations.
Kazakhstan hosts the summit in its capacity as current president of the group.
India chaired the SCO last year. It hosted the SCO Summit in virtual format in July last year.
India's association with the SCO began in 2005 as an observer country. It became a full member state of the SCO at the Astana summit in 2017.
India has shown keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which specifically deals with security and defense-related issues.
The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Pakistan became its permanent member along with India in 2017.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India at the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on July 4 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided not to attend.
The summit is expected to include the situation in Afghanistan, the Ukraine conflict and increasing overall security cooperation among SCO member countries.
India's priorities in the SCO are determined by the Prime Minister's vision of a "SAFE" SCO, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
SECURE stands for Security, Economic Cooperation, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and Environmental Protection.
Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation to Astana for the summit, the MEA said.
"At the summit, the leaders are expected to review the organization's activities over the past two decades and discuss the status and prospects of multilateral cooperation," he said.
"The meeting is also expected to discuss current issues of regional and international importance," he said in a statement.
The SCO, comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, is an influential economic and security bloc that has become one of the largest trans-regional international organizations.
Kazakhstan hosts the summit in its capacity as current president of the group.
India chaired the SCO last year. It hosted the SCO Summit in virtual format in July last year.
India's association with the SCO began in 2005 as an observer country. It became a full member state of the SCO at the Astana summit in 2017.
India has shown keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which specifically deals with security and defense-related issues.
The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Pakistan became its permanent member along with India in 2017.
