Tashkent, 28 July 2022 (TDI): The two-day meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) starts today. The meeting will conclude on 29 July in the capital of Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan is presiding over the SCO summit this year. On September 17, 2021, Uzbekistan took up the organization’s presidency from Tajikistan. Thus, it manages all events related to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. However, the next year, India will host the SCO summit.

The gathering is significant because the Foreign Ministers will have discussions for future Council of Heads of State meetings. The meeting of heads of state of SCO will be held in Samarkand on September 15-16, 2022.

Moreover, in this two-day meeting, the discussion will be on continued collaboration in the SCO Organization’s expansion. In addition, perspectives will be shared on international and regional topics of mutual importance.

SCO was established in 2001. Hence, it is a two-decades-old organization. It comprises China, Russia, Pakistan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. In addition, Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia are SCO observer nations. Its dialogue partners are Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey, and Sri Lanka.

Foreign Ministers Meetings

Zhao Lijian, Spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of China, has announced that Foreign Minister Wang Yi will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Uzbekistan on July 28 and 29.

According to the statement, the foreign minister will also visit Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In addition,  the statement says that he is visiting these countries at the invitation of Acting Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Norov Vladimir, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kulubaev Zheenbek Moldokanovich, and Tajikistan’s Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin.

Bilawal Bhutto, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, will represent his country at this meeting. According to the statement released by the ministry of foreign affairs, Bilawal Bhutto will hold a meeting with his counterparts on the sidelines of the CFM meeting.

Notably, this would be the first face-to-face encounter of Bilawal Bhutto with India’s Minister of External Affairs, Jaishankar. Since Bilawal Bhutto became the Foreign Minister in Pakistan’s new coalition government.

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