NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will head the Indian delegation at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Kazakhstan next month, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to not attend the meeting.
Initially, PM Modi’s visit to Astana for the July 3-4 SCO Summit had been confirmed, with an “advance security liaison” team visiting Kazakhstan to prepare for his attendance.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal announced in a media briefing on Friday that Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegation. However, he did not provide further details.
Although the official reason for PM Modi’s decision to skip the summit has not been disclosed, it is believed that his busy schedule with the ongoing Parliament session, which extends until July 3, and strained relations with China influenced this decision.
India conveyed this decision to Kazakhstan during a phone call between PM Modi and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Tuesday. The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the bilateral strategic partnership, and PM Modi expressed India’s full support for the success of the SCO Summit in Astana.
A visit to Astana would have meant PM Modi meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani President Shehbaz Sharif. The SCO, which includes India, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, will now see India represented by its foreign minister.
India’s participation in the SCO Summit has varied, with the foreign minister representing the country in 2014, and PM Modi attending five summits pre-pandemic. He participated virtually in 2021 and attended in person in Uzbekistan in 2022, where he urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
Last year, India hosted the SCO Summit, which was held virtually following reports that the Chinese and Russian presidents would not travel to India.
