India to host 19th Council of Heads of Governments of SCO in 2020

India will be hosting  the 19th Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2020. This was informed by SCO Secretary General Vladimir Norov. This will be for the first time that India will host the high level meeting of the China-led eight-member economic and security bloc.

About SCO

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) aka Shanghai Pact was created in 2001 in Shanghai by China. Apart from China, its founding members were Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan were admitted as full members in 2017. At present, SCO has four observer States viz.  Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia; and has six dialogue partners viz. Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka. It is also known as Alliance of the East. In terms of geographical coverage and population, it is world’s largest regional organization.

SCO summits

SCO holds two types of summits every year viz. Summit of Heads of States and Summits Heads of Governments. These summits are organized in member states. The latest Summit of heads of government was held in Tashkent in November 2019. It was proposed in Tashkent Summit that India would take the initiative to hold the 2020 meetings of the Heads of Government.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2019