EAM Dr S Jaishankar to attend meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers of SCO in Moscow today

External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar will attend the meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO) to be held in Moscow on 9th and 10th of this month. This will be the third Council of Foreign Ministers, CFM meeting that India will be attending as a full member of SCO.

 

Earlier two meetings were held in Beijing on April, 2018 and Bishkek on May, 2019. India has been taking active part in various SCO dialogue mechanisms under the Chairmanship of the Russian Federation this year. The SCO Summit will be held in the near future.

 

The CFM meeting in Moscow will review the preparations for the forthcoming SCO Summit and also exchange views on international and regional issues. External Affairs Minister’s visit in Moscow will include the participation in the Council of SCO Foreign Ministers and other bilateral



meetings. External Affairs Minister is also expected to have several bilateral meetings including with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

 

India and Russia enjoy an important strategic partnership and this year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of India -Russia Strategic Partnership. The ministers are likely to discuss a wide range of bilateral cooperation issues as well as current issues on the regional and international agenda.

 

The foreign ministers at SCO will discuss key international and regional issues in the context of the 75th UN anniversary. The deliberations will be centered around a number of urgent foreign policy issues as well as decisions aimed at further developing SCO activities on overcoming the global political and socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.