Situation in Afghanistan may be discussed at the SCO summit; The issue of Ukraine war will also be raised

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit is going to be held in Astana. India put forth its point of view before this conference. He said that the leaders of the SCO group are expected to review its activities over the last two decades and discuss the possibilities of multilateral cooperation. India would be represented by the External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar.

Will participate in the 24th summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, from July 2 to 6. India hosted it in 2023. Kazakhstan is hosting the event as chair-in-office for the grouping. It had hosted the SCO summit virtually in July last year. The SCO consists of India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—all of whom come to form a formidable bloc in economics and security that emerged to become one of the largest interregional international organizations.

This SCO summit will not be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is going to represent India in it.

Afghanistan and the Ukraine conflict is expected to be discussed at the summit, besides promoting overall security cooperation among SCO member countries. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India's priorities in SCO have been guided by the Prime Minister's vision for a 'secure' SCO. SECURE broad categorization translates into security, economic cooperation, connectivity, unity, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and environmental protection. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Jaishankar is expected to spearhead the Indian delegation to Astana for the summit. "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." "The meeting is also expected to discuss topical issues of regional and international importance," he said.

The SCO chairmanship was held by India last year. Association of India with SCO began in 2005 as an observer country. At the Astana summit in 2017, India became an entire member country of the SCO. Its interest has also been deep in consolidating its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, set up in line with the mandate assigned to deal exclusively with issues about security and defense. The SCO was established in 2001 at a summit in Shanghai by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. In 2017, together with India, it got the permanent membership of Pakistan.