New Delhi begins meeting of National Security Advisers of SCO member states
The meeting of national security advisers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states began in the Indian capital, New Delhi, on Wednesday, 29 March. The meeting is being chaired by India's National Security Adviser Ajit Kumar Doval. Several high-ranking delegates from Central Asian countries are attending in person. Representatives of Pakistan and China are likely to attend the meeting virtually.
Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev will also attend the annual meeting of secretaries of security councils of SCO member states in New Delhi, according to a statement from the Russian Security Council.
In 2022, India took over the presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation for 2023. As India is the incumbent SCO chairperson, the national security adviser addressed the event with opening remarks. India became a full member of the SCO on 9 June, 2017. The SCO has four observer states Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia and six dialogue partners Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an international organisation established in 15 June 2001, when the heads of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan signed a declaration to this end.
The objectives of the SCO are to strengthen mutual trust, friendship and good-neighbourliness between the member states.
At the St. Petersburg Summit of Heads of State in June 2002 was signed the Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (entered into force on 19 September 2003). The Charter is the basic constitutional document that fixes the aims and principles of the Organization, its structure and main areas of its activities.
Since January 2004, the SCO has functioned as a fully fledged international organisation. Its permanent bodies, the administrative and technical secretariat in Beijing, headed by the SCO Secretary-General, and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) in Tashkent, have officially become operational.
Earlier this month, the heads of tourism administrations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation met in Kashi.
India is holding a series of events ahead of the SCO summit to be held in Goa this summer. The defence ministers' meeting to be held in New Delhi from 27-29 April it will be the next important meeting of the SCO, as reported by ANI, a partner of TV BRICS.
After the defence ministers' meeting, the next event of the organisation's representatives will be the meeting of foreign ministers to be held in Goa on 4-5 May.
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