In a sudden change of plans just a month before the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, the Ministry of External Affairs announced that India will now Chair the summit in virtual format, not in-person, as planned before.
“Under India’s first-ever Chairmanship, the 22nd summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State will be held in the virtual format on 4 July 2023, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,” said an MEA press release, adding that leaders of “all SCO member states” : China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, have been invited to attend the Summit via video conference. Turkmenistan is a permanent invitee, while Presidents of Iran, Belarus and Mongolia have been invited as Observer States.
