On Wednesday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in the Russian city of Sochi to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.
The SCO Summit will be held on the 30th of November and the 1st of December. They will discuss issues related to regional security scenario including situations in the Gulf and Afghanistan.
India was an observer at the SCO Summit from 2005 till 2017. India usually participates in the Minister level meetings. They usually focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian region.
Russia strongly pressed for India’s membership at the SCO while Pakistan was backed up by China. In June, India and Pakistan became full fledged members of the SCO Summit.
In June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the SCO Summit at Astana, Kazakhstan.
As an SCO member, India has a bigger say in insisting on the collaborative action on dealing with terrorism and issues related to security and defense.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, “We attach special significance to the SCO in promoting political, economic and people to people contacts.”
“Ms. Swaraj will have bilateral meetings with several leaders on the sidelines of the Summit,” he added.
At a media briefing when asked about the details of the bilateral meetings he said, “At this stage, we cannot say anything.”
Raveesh Kumar was also questioned about the release of the Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed and the larger challenge of terrorism, he said, “India has been working with like minded countries to deal with the menace.”
