SCO Summit

"As everyone is aware that in the past some years, several events have taken place virtually so taking all factors into account, we decided that the Summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State will be held in a virtual format on the 4th of July," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said.

India has assumed the rotating chairmanship of SCO at the Samarkand Summit on September 16, 2022. According to a statement issued by the ministry of external affairs, all the SCO member states namely China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, have been invited to attend the summit.

"Warm conversation with DPM and FM Murat Nurtleu of Kazakhstan after SCO CFM in Goa. Thanked him for supporting our presidency.ADiscussed broad-basing our economic and political cooperation and increase engagement with the region," he tweeted. Jaishankar also discussed the issues of connectivity, energy and digital cooperation with Tajik counterpart Sirojiddin Muhriddin.

Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the meeting of foreign ministers of the member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) here, Jaishankar said, "As a Foreign Minister of an SCO member state, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was treated accordingly. As a promoter, justifier... But I am sorry to say that as a spokesperson of a terror industry which is the mainstay of Pakistan, his positions were called out and countered, including at the SCO meeting."

Jaishankar also met SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming and appreciated his support for India's SCO Presidency and added that it is driven by a commitment to secure the SCO. He laid down the key focus areas including startups, traditional medicine, youth empowerment, Buddhist heritage and science & technology.

Rajnath Singh and Sergei Shoigu held wide-ranging discussions on several issues of bilateral cooperation, including defence and industrial partnerships. The two ministers also discussed the participation of Russia's defence industry in the 'Make in India' initiative, and ways to further accelerate it.

In their meet, which came a day before the SCO Defence Ministers meet - which India, as the Chair of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2023, is hosting, the two ministers had frank discussions about developments in the India-China border areas as well as bilateral relations.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Gen Li Shangfu. Before the SCO meet, the 18th round of India-China Corps Commander level talks held on Sunday, but it failed to make headway on the contentious issue of the Depsang Plains and de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

Before the deliberations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posed for a photograph with the SCO leaders -- Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif and other leaders. Modi also met Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of Uzbekistan. The Prime Minister's Office on Friday tweeted the pictures, "PM @narendramodi at the SCO Summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan."