Afghanistan, expansion key focus at SCO summit; PM Modi to address meeting on Friday

Afghanistan and expansion of the grouping will be the key focus at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization or SCO heads of state summit that will take place on Friday.  The summit, which is being hosted by Tajikistan, will take place in the national capital Dushanbe in a hybrid mode. The summit will see a meeting on Afghanistan of the SCO member countries and Collective Security Treaty organisation or CSTO--an alliance of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Tajikistan which is hosting the summit shares a land border with Afghanistan and since the Taliban takeover in August raised its concerns publicly many times. SCO grouping has 8 member states--Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and 4 central Asian countries--Tajikistan,  Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan. Afghanistan is an observer member country and the situation in the country impacts many of the SCO countries directly, especially central Asian states who share a border with it and fear a refugee influx.

One of the key outcomes of the summit will on the expansion of the grouping with the process of Iran getting full membership set to start and a number of countries in the gulf getting dialogue or observer status. Iran will get full membership after the completion of due SCO legal process.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing the SCO heads of state summit on Friday. He is expected to address the meet between 11.30 am to 11.40 am after the welcome address by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will be representing India at the meet in person in Dushanbe. This is the 4th time India is participating in the summit in a full-fledged member state. India's key focus at the meet will expectedly be on counter-terror, economic cooperation and most significantly Afghanistan. 

The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said, "At the Summit, the leaders are expected to review the organization’s activities over the past two decades and discuss the state and prospects of future cooperation. Topical issues of regional and international importance are also expected to be discussed.'

On the sidelines of the meeting, Jaishankar will have a number of bilateral including with his Tajik and Iranian counterparts. This will be the first in-person meet between Jaishankar and Iran's new FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. The heads of state and foreign minister will be arriving in the capital later today. Jaishankar left for the city early on Thursday. On Friday, the summit will start around 11.30 am IST.

This Summit is significant as SCO celebrates the 20th anniversary of its foundation in 2021 and Tajikistan marks 30 years of its independence. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin will take part in this year's summit virtually, while Pakistani PM Imran Khan will be present in person. Last year, India chaired the 19th Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) in virtual format.