Jaishankar, not Modi, to attend SCO summit, what to expect in Astana

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is leading the Indian delegation to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit as Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to skip the event, which begins on Wednesday in Kazakhstan’s Astana. The SCO summit, to be participated by China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin among others, is expected to work out a plan for multilateral cooperation and discuss regional issues such as the situation in Afghanistan.

“At the Summit, the leaders are expected to review the organisation’s activities over the past two decades and discuss the state and prospects of multilateral cooperation. Topical issues of regional and international importance are also expected to be discussed at the meeting,” an official statement by India’s external affairs ministry said.

Modi’s vision at SCO

While Modi has decided to skip the meeting, some reports suggest that efforts are underway to explore the possibility of him addressing the SCO gathering by a video-link.

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Modi’s decision to skip the event came when India’s relations with China and Pakistan were at the ebb. A visit to Astana would have brought Modi face-to-face with both China’s Xi and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

However, Modi’s vision will be shared by the Indian delegation at the SCO summit. “India’s priorities in SCO are shaped by the Prime Minister’s vision of a ‘SECURE’ SCO,” the MEA statement read on Tuesday.

SECURE stands for Security, Economic cooperation, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Environmental protection. 

Kazakhstan took over the SCO presidency last year from India, which, under its first-ever presidency of SCO, hosted the 23rd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State in July last year in virtual format.

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What to expect at the Astana meet

• World leaders are expected to review the activities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) over the past two decades and discuss the state and prospects of multilateral cooperation at the SCO Summit in Astana.

• The SCO summit is likely to discuss a range of economic, digital, and energy connectivity initiatives, trade, and regional issues including the situation in Afghanistan, where there has been a surge in activities of the Islamic State.

• This year’s host is Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has proposed, among other initiatives, the establishment of a joint investment fund.

• Tokayev has received support from other countries. In a telephonic conversation with the Kazakhstan president on June 25, Indian PM Modi conveyed his full support for the success of the upcoming summit in Astana.

What SCO came up for?

With roots in the mid-1990s as “Shanghai Five” and formally set up in 2001, the SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation.The main goals of the SCO are promoting effective cooperation on largely issues that the United Nations promotes. The cooperation goals are in the fields of politics, trade and economy, science and technology, culture, education, energy, transportation, tourism and also environmental protection. The idea is to strengthen mutual confidence and good-neighbourly relations among the member countries, making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region, moving towards the establishment of a new, democratic, just and rational political and economic international order.