Pakistan’s Defense Minister has not reached Delhi to attend the SCO meeting and he is attending the meeting virtually. However, Bilawal Bhutto will attend the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting.
SCO Meeting in Delhi: The meeting of Defense Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has started in New Delhi on Friday, which is being chaired by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.
In his opening speech, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that he emphasized the cultural and civilizational links between the SCO nations.
India is chairing the SCO this year and the meeting of Defense Ministers of SCO countries is currently underway, speaking in which Rajnath Singh said, “We have cultural and civilizational links. For ages, we have ‘people-to-people relations’. ‘ There has been an association and exchange of goods and ideas in the region, due to which we have developed economically and culturally.
The Indian Defense Minister further added that “with the changing times, we will work to strengthen those ties as the SCO has evolved into a stronger regional organization.”
SCO meeting going on in Delhi
Earlier, the Defense Ministers of SCO also posed for a picture together in Delhi. Apart from Rajnath Singh, Chinese Defense Minister General Li Shangfu and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also addressed the SCO Defense Ministers meeting in Delhi.
At the same time, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khwaja Asif has not come to Delhi and he is participating in this summit in a virtual way. Earlier, it had decided to skip the conclave, but later decided to attend the meeting virtually.
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, Colonel General Sherali Mirzo of Tajikistan, Brigadier General Mohammad Raza Gharei Ashtiani of Iran and Colonel General Ruslan Zhaksilyakov of Kazakhstan arrived in the national capital on Thursday, a day ahead of the SCO Defense Ministers’ meeting.
India is presiding over the SCO this year and India has kept ‘Secure SCO’ as the main mantra of this meeting for this year.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his counterparts from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are also attending the meeting.
Officials involved in preparations for the meeting said the main focus of the deliberations would be the regional security situation, including developments in Afghanistan. The second priority would be to enhance coordination among SCO member states to effectively deal with terrorism and extremism, he added.
SCO is an inter-governmental organization established in 2001. Apart from India, the membership of SCO includes Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Apart from the member states, two observer countries Belarus and Iran are also participating in the SCO Defense Ministers’ meeting. India and Pakistan became permanent members in 2017.