Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to skip the 24th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit set to take place in Kazakhstan\s capital Astana on July 4. India, which will be represented by S Jaishankar, has said that the dates of the SCO conflict with that of the first session of Parliament. Relations between India and China, which dominates the group, also remain strained over the stand-off in Eastern Ladakh. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is slated to be held on July 3 and 4 in Kazakhstan\s capital Astana. India will be represented by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar after Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to skip the meeting. The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the SCO is an influential economic and security bloc that has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations. India is hosting the summit in its capacity as the current chair of the grouping. S Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation to Astana for the summit, the MEA said. He is likely to meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the summit. If it takes place, it will be the first high-level meeting between Indian and Chinese officials after the formation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi\s 3.0 government following the recent general elections in India. According to The Times of India, the summit will examine \counterterrorism in the backdrop of the growing footprint of ISIS in Eurasia and growing radicalisation.\ India on Tuesday said the leaders of the grouping are expected to review its activities over the past two decades and discuss prospects of multilateral cooperation. The situation in Afghanistan, the Ukraine conflict and boosting overall security cooperation among the SCO member countries are expected to figure in the summit. India\s priorities in SCO are shaped by the prime minister\s vision of a \SECURE\ SCO, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. SECURE stands for Security, Economic cooperation, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Environmental protection. \At the summit, the leaders are expected to review the organisation\s activities over the past two decades and discuss the state and prospects of multilateral cooperation,\ it said. \Topical issues of regional and international importance are also expected to be discussed at the meeting,\ it said in a statement. India was the chair of the SCO last year. It hosted the SCO Summit in the virtual format last July.
