New Delhi, Feb 4 (UNI) Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Nurlan Yermekbayev, who is on his first official visit to India, will be holding talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today.
Yermekbayev, who arrived in the wee hours of Tuesday, will also hold talks with Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh at Hyderabad House on Thursday. He will later deliver a lecture at Sapru House.
The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson said in a post on X:
“Warm welcome to Mr. Nurlan Yermekbayev, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), on his first official visit to India.
“This visit underscores our commitment to enhancing regional cooperation, security, and trade & economic development.”
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization of now nine member countries - India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran.
While India and Pakistan joined it in 2017, Iran joined in 2023. The SCO also includes three observer states—Mongolia, Belarus, and Afghanistan —and 14 dialogue partners: Sri Lanka, Turkey, Cambodia, Azerbaijan, Nepal, Armenia, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Myanmar, the Maldives, and the United Arab Emirates. The official languages of the SCO are Chinese and Russian.
It is the world’s largest regional organization by geography and population, covering about 80 percent of the Eurasian landmass and 40 percent of the world population. As of 2021, the bloc accounted for 20 percent of global GDP. Following the integration of Iran, the SCO now controls 20 percent of the world’s oil reserves and 44 percent of its natural gas.
UNI RN