SCO Summit To Be Held In Virtual Format
Deccan ChronicleNEW DELHI: In a surprise announcement, New Delhi on Tuesday evening said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit to be hosted by India on July 4 and to be Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would take place in the Virtual format. No reasons were given officially by New Delhi in its statement but the announcement has triggered huge speculation, particularly since several other SCO meetings including the SCO Foreign Ministers’ meeting recently in Goa was held in the physical format in which the Foreign Ministers of all eight nations including Pakistan and China had attended. Also, with the recent war of words in media remarks between Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the SCO Foreign Ministers’ meeting a few weeks ago in Goa, the possibility of physical presence of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in India seemed remote. 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 Narendra Modi.