New Delhi, July 21 (IANS) Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh, will travel to Kyrgyzstan on a two-day visit from July 23 to attend the Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
During the meeting set to be held in Cholpon-Ata, the Foreign Ministers will review progress in key areas of SCO cooperation and discuss matters of regional and international significance and discuss matters of regional and international importance.
“The SCO CFM Meeting is held in preparation for the SCO Leadership Summit, scheduled to be held in Bishkek on 31 August – 01 September 2026. The Foreign Ministers will review progress in key areas of SCO cooperation and exchange views on matters of regional and international significance. They are expected to finalize documents and decisions for adoption by the Heads of the State at the Bishkek Summit,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.
Kirti Vardhan Singh is expected to hold bilateral meetings with counterparts from SCO Member States on the sidelines of the meeting.
Kyrgyzstan holds the SCO chairmanship for 2025-2026 and President Sadyr Japarov has announced ’25 Years of the SCO: Together Towards Sustainable Peace, Development, and Prosperity’ as the theme of its SCO presidency.
On Sunday, Union Minister of Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat represented India at the 23rd Meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the SCO Member States in Kyrgyzstan’s Cholpon-Ata.
During the meeting, the ministers discussed issues of developing cultural cooperation in the upcoming period, implementing joint projects, expanding creative exchanges, as well as preserving, promoting, and protecting cultural heritage, according to the official statement. After the meeting, a Protocol was signed, and the list of cultural exchange events within the SCO framework for 2026–2027 was approved.
In April, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Bishkek and stressed the urgent need for a collective and uncompromising approach to tackle the “evils” of terrorism, separatism and extremism by dismantling safe havens and rejecting any political justification for such acts.
The SCO was established on June 15, 2001, with its founding members being China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. In 2017, India and Pakistan joined it. In 2023, Iran became a member, followed by Belarus in 2024, bringing the total number of SCO member states to 10.
The SCO has two observer states — Afghanistan and Mongolia — and 14 dialogue partners — Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, the Maldives, Myanmar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait.
–IANS
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