Web Desk
India has announced that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State Summit will be held via video conference on July 4. The 22nd SCO meeting will be presided over by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Singh Modi.
The decision to hold the SCO meeting virtually has surprised many, as the Indian government has not provided any reason for this choice, leading to speculations and conflicting opinions.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the decision was made on Monday and is unrelated to the engagements of the leadership of SCO member countries. It is noted that the leaders of China and Russia have commitments to attend the G20 meeting in September.
If the leaders of member countries were invited in person, it would have been Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first visit to India since the breakout of the Russia-Ukraine war. Additionally, there were possibilities of meetings between the leadership of Pakistan, China, and India.
Experts in Pakistan believe that India opted for a virtual summit to prevent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif from visiting India. Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari attended the SCO Foreign Ministers meeting in Goa, India, where he met several counterparts but did not hold a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
The SCO is a political and security bloc that includes Pakistan, Russia, China, and India has held the chairmanship since September.
