NB Explains | India cancels in-person SCO Summit, decides to host in virtual format in July

New Delhi, May 31: In what can be called a surprising move, India canceled the in-person SCO summit which was scheduled to be attended by the heads of the states of member countries. It has decided to host the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in a virtual format in July.

 

 

The external affairs ministry announced that the 22nd summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State will be held in the “virtual format” and chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The ministry didn’t give any reasons for the decision.

 

Reports suggest that the option of holding the meeting virtually had always been on the table and a final decision was made on Monday. The decision was not due to any reasons connected to the schedules of leaders of SCO member states, the people said.

 

“The leaders of China and Russia are anyway expected to visit India for the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September,” an official was quoted as saying. However, it seems like China is reclutant to visit India for SCO Summit as there was no clarity on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s physical attendance at the summit, reports said.

 

India was preparing to hold the summit physically and the Russian President Vladimir Putin was preparing to visit India for the summit along with Central Asian leaders, however, the Chinese side did not confirm its president’s physical presence at the summit. This might come against the backdrop of India-China border conflict. Besides Pakistan, a close ally of China, has also shown no inclination to be at the summit.

 

India assumed the rotating chairmanship of SCOat the Samarkand summit on September 16, 2022. An official statement said the 22nd summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State will be held in the virtual format on July 4, 2023, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

 

All the SCO member states—China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan—have been invited to attend the summit. In addition, Iran, Belarus and Mongolia have been invited as observer states. As per SCOtradition, Turkmenistan has also been invited as the guest of the chair. Heads of the two SCObodies—the Secretariat and the SCO RATS—will also be present. Further, heads of six international and regional organisations—UN, Asean, CIS, CSTO, EAEU and CICA—have also been invited.

 

The theme of the summit is ‘Towards a SECURE SCO’. The SECURE acronym was coined by the prime minister at the 2018 SCO summit and stands for security, economy and trade, connectivity, unity, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and environment. These themes have been highlighted during India’s chairmanship of SCO.

 

India has set up new pillars of cooperation under its chairmanship—startups and innovation, traditional medicine, digital inclusion, youth empowerment and shared Buddhist heritage.

 

In addition, India has worked towards fostering greater people-to-people ties that celebrate the historical and civilisational bonds between the SCO member nations. These include the various socio-cultural events hosted by Varanasi under the framework of the first-ever SCO Cultural and Tourist Capital for 2022-23.

 

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. India remains committed to play a positive and constructive role in the organization, and looks forward to a successful SCO summit as the culmination of its chairmanship.