New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, will represent India at the meeting of the SCO council of foreign ministers in Kazakhstan’s Astana on May 21, the ministry said on Friday.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal announced this at his weekly briefing here.
One of the main items on the agenda will be the comprehensive preparations for the upcoming meeting of the SCO Heads of States Council, which is to be held in July, according to the website of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
“Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs will pay a visit to Astana, Kazakhstan on May 20-21, 2024. In Astana, he will the represent the government of India in a meeting of the SCO council of foreign ministers on May 21.
“The meeting will discuss preparations for the upcoming Summit of the SCO council of heads of state, review ongoing cooperation in the SCO, and exchange ideas on regional and global developments of common concern,” Jaiswal said.
During his visit, Ravi is also expected to hold meetings with his counterparts from SCO member states, and senior officials of the government of Kazakhstan, he said.
The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.
In July 2023, Iran became the new permanent member of the SCO at an India-hosted virtual summit of the grouping.
The Astana meet on May 21 will be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu, the website said.
It will be attended by foreign ministers of the SCO member states, the SCO Secretary-General and Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) Executive Committee, it said.
Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane on April 25-26 had led an Indian delegation to Kazakhstan for the annual meeting of the defence ministers of member states of the SCO during which the “regional security issues” within the SCO were reviewed. The goals of the SCO are — to strengthen mutual trust, friendship and good-neighbourliness between the Member States; to encourage the effective cooperation between the Member States in such spheres as politics, trade, economy, science and technology, culture, education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, etc; to jointly ensure and maintain peace, security and stability in the region; and to promote a new democratic, fair and rational international political and economic international order, the SCO website said. PTI KND ZMN ZMN ZMN
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