Daily Times

NEW DELHI: India will invite Prime Minister Imran Khan to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) annual meeting that is scheduled in October, the External affairs ministry spokesperson has said on Thursday.

According to the reports, Raveesh Kumar the External affairs ministry spokesperson nods that Prime Minister Imran Khan with others eight heads of state will be invited to the conference which is being held for the first time in India.

“As per established practice and procedure within SCO, all the eight members, as well as four observer states and other international dialogue partners, will be invited,” The minister said.

Moreover, IF PM Imran Khan agreed upon to visit, the premier will be met by the Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and may it would lead to minimizing the ongoing tension from the Indian side.  After all, it will be the first move of the Indian government since, the Pulwama attack.

Meanwhile, the SCO, an Eurasian group founded at a summit in Shanghai, China in 2001 to uphold political, economic and security alliance among the members.  The members include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Then, Pakistan and India joined the SCO in June 2017.

In the last summit in Bishkek, Kazakhstan, PM Imran Khan-led the conference with his salient stance when asked to build a local currency then dollar among the member’s nation.

Meanwhile, Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia take on the role of observer states. Whereas, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nepal, and Cambodia will serve as SCO dialogue partners.