PM Modi will participate in a meeting of the Council of the Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The meeting, which will be held on September 15 and 16, 2022, will be the 22nd meeting of the Council.
According to a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs, “the SCO Summit will be attended by leaders of SCO Member States, Observer States, Secretary General of the SCO, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), President of Turkmenistan and other invited guests."
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation began as a grouping of the Russian Federation, Central Asian republics and China in the late 1990s as a mechanism to build trust in the aftermath of the end of the Cold War. The Organisation as it stands today was founded in 2001 and India joined the grouping in 2017.
During the upcoming Summit, “the leaders are expected to review the organization’s activities over the past two decades and discuss the state and prospects of multilateral cooperation in the future. Topical issues of regional and global importance are also expected to be discussed at the meeting." the MEA statement reads.
According to the Dushanbe declaration of 2021, the SCO stands for “principles of mutual respect for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, equality and mutual benefit, peaceful settlement of possible disputes through dialogue and mutual consultation, non-interference in internal affairs, non-use of military force or threat of force, rejection of unilateral military superiority in adjoining areas."
The SCO facilitates high level political dialogues and also maintains an expansive security agenda that focuses on “combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, separatism, extremism, illicit trafficking in drugs, weapons, ammunition and explosives, cross-border organized crime, ensuring international information security, strengthening border security, joint efforts to combat illegal migration and human trafficking, money laundering, economic crimes and corruption", reads the Dushanbe Declaration.
