NEW DELHI: President Putin along with other SCO leaders Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are expected to attend the SCO summit 2023 virtually on July 4th.
Putin was all set to travel to Delhi to attend the summit in person. However, when Delhi announced on May 30th that the summit would be virtual he had to change his plans. Putin is also expected to address the summit.
This will be the 23rd meeting of the SCO leaders.
"For the upcoming SCO summit, under India’s ongoing chairmanship, we had earlier agreed upon some mutually agreeable dates and had planned the trip of President Putin to attend it in person in Delhi. However, the Indian side decided to make it virtual and we confirmed participation for that too as we attach priority to SCO,’’ said Kremlin’s Foreign Policy Advisor, Yuri Ushakov.
Chinese Premier Xi Jinping has confirmed his participation and will also make some remarks, according to Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Hua Chunying.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, too has confirmed the participation of PM Sharif.
"PM Sharif’s participation illustrates the high importance that Pakistan attaches to the SCO as an important forum for regional security and prosperity and enhanced engagement in the region,’’ according to Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.
Meanwhile, most members of the SCO are disappointed with the summit being converted into a virtual event as they were all gearing up for the event.
“We had been looking forward to our leaders meeting in person until we heard that the summit would now be virtual. Since December 2022, we were gearing up for the event and stopped in our tracks when the announcement to host the event virtually was made in May,” said a representative of an SCO member country.
India took the chairmanship of the SCO from Uzbekistan after the conclusion of the SCO Summit in Samarkand in September 2022. After hosting nearly 134 meetings in person, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on May 30 that the summit would be held virtually on July 4.
“India has been too consumed by the G20 Presidency and the events revolving around it, as a result of which the events under the SCO chairmanship have been lost. The only time SCO came into prominence briefly was during the SCO foreign ministers’ meet in Goa,” said another member.
The SCO grouping is by no means insignificant if one was to consider the geographic scope and population. “It is the world’s largest regional organisation in terms of area, covering approximately 60 per cent of Eurasia and 40 per cent of the world population, with a combined GDP of 20 per cent of the global GDP. So, it is only natural for us to have expected it to be more visible,” lamented another SCO member.
The members of the SCO include India, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan. Iran is likely to become a member this year. The SCO also has dialogue partners that include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt are also expected to be dialogue partners.
