India to host virtual SCO Summit

India says it will host a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in a virtual format in July.

India’s external affairs ministry said heads of state of all members, including Russia, China and Pakistan have been invited.

The eight-member bloc’s defence and foreign ministers attended in-person meetings in India earlier this year.

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China’s defence minister came to India in April for a meeting of the SCO’s defence ministers, the first visit of a Chinese defence minister to India since a Himalayan border clash between the two countries’ troops in May 2020.

Pakistan’s foreign minister visited India earlier this month, but his trip did not suggest any thaw in their frosty relations.

The SCO is a political and security bloc that includes Russia and China, and India has been the chair since September.