India To Host SCO Defence Ministers' Meet On 28 April; Counter-Terrorism, Regional Security Among Issues To Be Discussed

India as the chair of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2023 will host the SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting on 28 April in New Delhi, an official release said on Tuesday (25 April).

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an intergovernmental organisation established in 2001.

The SCO member nations include India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Apart from the member states, two observer countries Belarus and Iran will also be participating in the SCO Defence Ministers Meeting on 28 April.

"The Defence Ministers will discuss amongst other issues matters concerning regional peace and security, counter terrorism efforts within SCO and an effective multilateralism," the Ministry of Defence said in a release.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will also hold bilateral meetings with the defence ministers of participating countries on the side-lines of the SCO Defence Ministers’ meet, the ministry said.

The theme of India’s chairmanship of SCO in 2023 is ‘SECURE-SCO’.

According to the ministry, India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region.

The ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which India has shared civilisational linkages, and is considered India’s extended neighbourhood, the ministry said.

SCO pursues its policy based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs, equality of all member states and mutual understanding and respect for opinions of each of them.