Jaishankar to represent India at SCO The Head of the Government (CHG) council meeting

Tags:

• The 20th Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG)  was held in Nur-Sultan in virtual format under the chairmanship of Kazakhstan.
• Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar will represent India at the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), where the leaders are likely to deliberate on a range of issues, including Afghanistan.

Highlights:

• The meeting is expected to deliberate on a range of pressing regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan.
• The SCO-CHG meeting is held annually and focuses on the trade and economic agenda of the bloc and to approve its annual budget.
• The executive director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), Turkmenistan and other invited guests are also expected to 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.

About SCO:

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), also known as the Shanghai Pact, is an Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance.
• The SCO is the successor to the Shanghai Five, a mutual security agreement formed in 1996 between China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Later Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan were admitted to the mechanism and the Declaration of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was signed.
• Formation: 15th June 2001
• Headquarters: Beijing, China
• Members: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan

Note: 

SCO’s Head of the State Council meeting is different from the Head of the Government Council meeting. 

The Head of the State  Council  is the supreme decision making body of the SCO and its meeting is held once in a year.The 21st Head of the State Council meeting was held in Dushanbe, Capital Tajikistan on 17th September 2021. India is represented by the Prime Minister in the meeting .

The Head of the Government Council is the second highest council in the organisation and ist meeting is held once in a year. They discuss the budget of the organisation and various economic issues.

Normally a representative of the Prime Minister attends the meeting .

This year, foreign minister S. Jaishankar represented India.