Tashkent: All eight heads of state in the Shanghai Corporation Organization (SCO), including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, will directly participate in the summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan next week, Sherzod Asadov, Press Secretary of the President of Uzbekistan, said.
This will be the first face-to-face meeting of SCO leaders since 2019. The summit is on September 15 and 16. Asadov clarified through a Facebook post who are the heads of state participating in the summit.
Other leaders attending the summit include Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Kazakhstan President Kasim-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz Republic President Sadair Japarov and Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon.
The heads of state of the three observer countries, namely Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, and Mongolian President Ukhnagin Khurelsukh, will also attend the summit. Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkmenistan have been invited as guests.
SCO was formed in 2001. The SCO is Putin’s first foreign summit since the start of his invasion of Ukraine. Modi and Xi are set to attend the summit amid troop withdrawals along the India-China border. It has not been announced whether the two will hold a bilateral meeting during the summit.
It is not clear whether Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will attend the summit in person as the country continues to suffer from severe floods. It has been announced that Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin will meet during the summit. Next year SCO Summit will be held in India.