New Delhi: Chinese President Xi Jinping will virtually attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to be hosted by India, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday. At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Xi will attend via video conference from Beijing, the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of the SCO on July 4 and deliver important remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a media statement.
This is the first official announcement about Xi’s participation in the SCO summit being hosted by India. The summit is being held when the world is facing geopolitical uncertainties and India is seen as a strategic player when it comes to resolving and tackling global issues.
Ahead of the summit to be held for the first time under India's Presidency, India on Tuesday inaugurated an exquisitely designed 'New Delhi Hall' at the SCO Secretariat in Beijing. The SCO is an influential economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organizations.
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According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the SCO Member States- China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, have been invited to attend the 22nd summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State slated to be held on July 4. India assumed the rotating Chairmanship of the SCO at the Samarkand Summit on 16 September 2022. The Summit will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The MEA also said that in addition, 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 be present.
Further, heads of six international and regional organizations like UN, ASEAN, CIS, CSTO, EAEU, and CICA have also been invited for the summit having the theme ‘Towards a SECURE SCO’.
"India’s Chairmanship of SCO has been a period of intense activity and mutually beneficial cooperation between Member States. India has hosted a total of 134 meetings and events, including 14 Ministerial-level meetings," the MEA has said.
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