<span style="color: #222222;">Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi today inaugurated the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Young Authors' Conference in New Delhi today. The SCO currently comprises eight Member States. They are China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.<br />''<br />''Speaking on the occasion, Ms Lekhi said that there are numerous commonalities in our cultures and these ties need to be strengthened further. She added that it is also imperative to seed ideas of finding linkages of common heritage and continue to learn from experiences of civilizational ethos and social value systems in the youth.<br />''<br />''The two-day SCO Young Authors Conference will provide a dynamic platform to explore the avenues of modern education, training, and advanced training of youth, and wider involvement in entrepreneurial activities and innovative projects.</span><br />