Amid speculation whether Chinese President Xi Jinping  and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would visit India for the SCO Summit on July 4, the BJP government has announced it will actually host the summit virtually, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

India holds the presidency currently of the Eurasian group and had held an in-person meeting of the SCO foreign ministers earlier this month in Goa that saw participation by all member-states including Pakistan.

India has invited Pakistan as it announced to hold the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State Summit via video conference on July 4.

Announcing the decision on Tuesday, the Indian ministry of external affairs said the 22nd SCO meeting would be held virtually and be presided over by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Singh Modi.

According to the Indian media, the move to hold the SCO meeting virtually is unexpected and the Indian government has not cited any reason for it, which is leading to speculations and conflicting opinions.

India had earlier invited leaders of all member countries for the summit - the first under its presidency.  An in-person summit would have seen Modi coming face-to-face with both Xi and Shehbaz Sharif at a time when ties with China have been wrecked by the boundary dispute and when the relationship with Pakistan is nearing rock bottom.

Indian ministry confirmed sending invitation to all member states including Pakistan, while Iran, Belarus and Mongolia have been invited as observers and Turkmenistan as a guest participant.

Heads of United Nations and ASEAN have also been extended invitations.

Earlier this month, Foreign Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari attended the SCO Foreign Ministers meeting in Goa, India, where he met several of his counterparts, but did not hold a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

 

Reporter Mohsinul Mulk