India takes over SCO rotating presidency

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at SCO summit

Uzbekistan on Friday handed over the rotating presidency of the eight-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to India in this historic city of Samarkand. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired the 22nd SCO summit in Samarkand which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"As a result #SCOSamarkandSummit, India will host next SCO summit as a chairman of Organisation in 2023. We will do our best to assist India, our strategic partner, in the implementation of this responsible mission," Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov tweeted. The summit in Samarkand also saw the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iran's Ebrahim Raisi, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif among other leaders from the Central Asian countries.

Launched in Shanghai in June 2001, the SCO has eight full members, including its six founding members, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined as full members in 2017. Over the years, it has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations.

Iran has been admitted as a permanent member of the SCO at the Samarkand summit.