External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Nurlan Yermacbayev, general secretary of Shanghai Cooperation Sangathan (SCO) in Beijing, where he discussed the ongoing efforts to modernize the role, importance and functioning of the organization. Jaishankar reached China after his visit to Singapore, which is his first Beijing visit in five years. During this visit, he is scheduled to attend the meeting of the Council of SCO Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Tianjin and hold several bilateral meetings. Jaishankar said in a post on X that today SCO General Secretary Nurlan in Beijing was happy to meet Yermekbayev. The SCO’s contribution and importance as well as efforts to modernize its functioning was discussed.
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Upcoming SCO Summit in Tianjin
The 25th meeting of SCO State Council is scheduled to be held in Tianjin later this year. India will preside over the SCO in 2023, while Pakistan will host the summit of leaders in 2024. Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a permanent inter-governmental body including India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Belarus.
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India’s stance on terrorism in SCO meetings
Jaishankar’s visit is taking place after Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s visit to China for SCO meetings in June. During the meeting of SCO Defense Ministers, India refused to sign a joint statement as there was no mention of the Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 26 people lost their lives. India advocated taking a tough stand against terrorism, but a member, allegedly Pakistan, opposed it to include it.
Earlier, the Foreign Minister also held an important bilateral meeting with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. Jaishankar emphasized that the continuous generalization of relations between India and China is likely to get “mutually beneficial” results. He emphasized the significant importance of explicit exchange of open dialogues and ideas, especially in view of the highly complex international status among two densely populated neighbors and major global economies.