Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar represented India at the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Any serious connectivity initiative must be consultative, transparent and participatory, the EAM said adding that it must conform to the most basic principle of international law – respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“The 20th Meeting of SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) will be held on November 25 in Nur-Sultan in virtual format under the chairmanship of Kazakhstan. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent India in the meeting,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in an official statement.
The SCO-CHG meet is an annual event that focuses on trade and economic agenda of the bloc, following which an annual budget is approved.
The meeting is usually attended by the heads of SCO member States, observer States and the secretary-general of SCO. The executive director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), Turkmenistan, and other invited guests will also likely attend the meeting.
“India is actively engaged in various SCO activities/dialogue mechanisms in the region as well as other multilateral cooperation within the SCO framework,” the MEA said.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was formed during a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
However, India and Pakistan became permanent members in 2017, and over the past few years, the SCO has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations in the world.
