PM Modi will address the virtual SCO summit today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the Indian delegation to the 20th Summit of SCO Council of Heads of States on November 10, 2020. The meeting will be chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Highlights

The meeting will be attended by heads of all the 8 Member States including Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.  The meeting would also be attended by the heads of 4 Observer States namely, Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia. Leaders of the Member States will address the summit. This is the first SCO Summit being held in virtual format. Further, this is the third meeting that India will be participating as full member.

Agenda of the meeting

The Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-terrorist Structure (SCO RATS) will make his interventions during the meeting. The Summit will end after adopting the Moscow Declaration. Further, the meeting would comprise of thw SCO Statements on issues including the Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of World War II, Digital Economy, Countering the Drug Threat,  Countering the Spread of Terrorism Including on the Internet and COVID-19.

About the Summit

The SCO Summit of Heads of State is the main body of the organization. This main body sets forth the Agenda and the main directions for the organization for the next year. The body deals with all the main activities of the organization comprising the political, security, trade, economic and cultural.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

The SCO is also known as the Shanghai Pact. It is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance. The establishment of the organisation was  announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, China. The organisation came into effect on 19 September 2003. India was granted observer status of SCO in 2005. Later on June 9, 2017, India and Pakistan joined SCO as full members at a summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.