China President Xi Jinping, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif, Russia’s Vladimir Putin & Belarus President Alexandr Lukashenko will be among attendees at summit chaired by PM Modi.
India's participation in SCO not only ensures it remains relevant in larger Eurasian sphere of influence, but also prevents Pakistan and China from pulling Russia towards their agenda.
Invitations sent to heads of state of all SCO member states including China & Pakistan, says MEA. Iran, Belarus and Mongolia invited as observer states for the upcoming meeting.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa has produced the usual photo-ops and probably even some important outcomes in back-room conversations....
Suspension of the rupee-rouble trade system, established to avoid the purview of Western sanctions on Russia, is being viewed as a blow to Indian importers.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's comments at Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet come days after S Jaishankar said it's 'difficult' to engage with a neighbour practising cross-border terrorism.
Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also asked for English to be included as SCO's 3rd official language. Currently, Russian & Mandarin are used as official, working languages.
Bhutto is the first senior leader of Pakistan to visit in 12 years – the last being Hina Rabbani Khar in July 2011, who met then foreign minister S.M. Krishna.
Chinese, Russian & Pakistan foreign ministers to attend the meeting. Counter-terrorism concerns in nations like Afghanistan, the Russia-Ukraine war likely to dominate the discussions.
Russian minister Sergei Shoigu noted growing number of extremist groups in Afghanistan. In its response, Taliban claims it has been able to defeat 'remnants' of ISIS in Afghanistan.
Islamabad-based think-tank PICSS's new report says Pakistan saw 'pronounced escalation' in violence last year, with 3,413 conflict-related deaths compared to 1,950 in previous year.
Many of you might think I got something so wrong in National Interest pieces written this year. I might disagree! But some deserve a Mea Culpa. I’d deal with the most recent this week.
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