India Set To Hold 1st SCO Ministerial Meet On March 14

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New Delhi: India, the current chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), is all set to host the organization's first ministerial meeting- Energy Ministers meet on March 14th. India has already extended formal invitations to all the members of the organization for an in-person meet in Delhi, with participation still being confirmed. 

In the run-up to the SCO summit under India's presidency, India will be holding meetings for SCO defense, National Security Advisor (NSA), interior, and environment ministers. India is expected to hold transport, culture, Defense minister meet in April, Foreign minister meet in May in Goa and summit on 25th June in Delhi.

SCO Energy minister meet comes days after India hosted key meetings of the G20 grouping, the finance minister meeting in Bangalore and the foreign minister meet in Delhi. India this year is the chair of both G20 and SCO groupings. 

SCO was founded over 20 years ago, with the goal of promoting economic, political, and military cooperation among its member countries. The organization's members include Russia, India, China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The SCO covers over 60% of the Eurasian landmass, 40% of the world population, and 30% of global GDP.

Additionally, with Iran becoming the latest country to join the organization, it will attend the grouping's meetings as a full-fledged member for the first time this year under Indian Presidency. As more and more countries from west Asia express their interest in joining the organization as dialogue partners, the SCO's importance continues to increase.