Enhancing influence on International level! EAM Sushma Swaraj to attend SCO Foreign Minister meet in Bishkek

News Bharati    20-May-2019
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New Delhi, May 20: India is furthering her place at the international level rapidly, enhancing this influence more strongly, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will attend a two-day meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), beginning Tuesday, in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.

In this meeting, several pressing issues including a threat of terrorism are expected to be discussed.

This is a 2nd-time CFM meeting where India attending as a full member of SCO. The CFM meeting will review the preparations for the forthcoming SCO summit in Bishkek on 13-14 June and also exchange views on topical issues of international and regional importance.

On this visit, Sushma Swaraj had also attended the last CFM meeting in China last April. As per the official statement by MEA, “India actively took part in various SCO dialogue mechanisms under the chairmanship of the Kyrgyz Republic over the past year. The next SCO summit will be held in Bishkek in June this year”.

 

The External Affairs Ministry said the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) will exchange views on topical issues of international and regional importance, besides reviewing the preparation for the SCO Summit in Bishkek from June 13-14.

the statement said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be representing India in the meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to be held in Bishkek on May 21-22.

India became a full member of the China-dominated grouping in 2017 and New Delhi's entry has increased the bloc's weight in regional geopolitics, besides giving it a pan-Asian hue.

India is also keen on deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defense.

"India actively took part in various SCO dialogue mechanisms under the Chairmanship of the Kyrgyz Republic over the past year," the MEA said.

It said Swaraj's program in Bishkek will include a joint call of SCO Foreign Ministers on Kyrgyz President Sooranbay Jeenbekov.

Last month, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended the SCO Defence Ministers' conclave in Bishkek.

The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.