PM Modi to skip SCO summit; EAM Jaishankar will represent India

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to represent India at SCO summit as PM Modi skips for Russia and Austria visits.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India at the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Astana next week as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to skip it.

Mr. Modi is set to visit Russia from July 8 to 9 in his first trip to that country in nearly five years. After concluding the visit to Russia, he is likely to travel to Austria on July 9 on a two-day trip.

It is learnt that Mr. Modi decided to skip the SCO summit in view of his planned two-nation trip to Russia and Austria. There is no official confirmation on Mr. Modi's visit to the two countries yet.

The SCO summit to be held on July 3 and 4 is expected to focus on the regional security situation and ways to boost connectivity and trade.

"The Indian delegation at the SCO summit will be led by external affairs minister S. Jaishankar," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing on Friday.

The situation in Afghanistan, the Ukraine conflict and boosting overall security cooperation among the SCO member countries are expected to figure in the summit.

The SCO comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan is an influential economic and security bloc that has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.