India to host SCO Summit on Tuesday in virtual format; Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif confirm participation

India will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit on Tuesday in a virtual format. The 23rd Summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to the External Affairs Ministry, all the SCO Member States China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan have been invited to attend the Summit. Iran, Belarus, and Mongolia have been invited as Observer States. As per SCO tradition, Turkmenistan has also been invited as the guest of the Chair. Heads of the two SCO Bodies, the Secretariat and the SCO RATS will also attend the summit.

Meanwhile, China and Pakistan have confirmed their participation in the meeting. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that President Xi will attend the 23rd Council of Heads meeting of the SCO on 4th July via video conference in Beijing and deliver important remarks. This is the first official announcement about Xi’ s participation in the summit being hosted by India.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will represent the country at the meeting.

Our correspondent reports that India assumed the rotating Chairmanship of SCO at the Samarkand Summit on 16 September last year. India has set up new pillars of cooperation under its Chairmanship by emphasizing startups and innovation, traditional medicine, digital inclusion, youth empowerment, and shared Buddhist heritage. It has worked towards fostering greater people-to-people ties that celebrate the historical and civilizational bonds between nations. India has hosted a total of 134 meetings and events, including 14 Ministerial-level meetings.