<span style="color: #222222;">Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will chair the 19th meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government to be hosted by India in virtual format on 30th of this month. It will be the first time that a Summit-level Meeting will be held under India's Chairmanship, since it gained full membership of the organization in 2017. This Summit is held annually at the level of Prime Ministers of SCO and deals primarily with the trade and economic agenda of the organization.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">External Affairs Ministry said India considers the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as an important regional organization to promote cooperation in the areas of peace, security, trade, economy and culture. It said India is committed to widening cooperation with SCO by playing a proactive, positive and constructive role in the organization.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">India assumed the Chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of Government on 2nd November last year as per rotation from the previous Chair – Uzbekistan and will complete its year -long tenure on 30th of this month.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Prime Ministers from the SCO Member States of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will attend the SCO meeting. Pakistan will be represented by the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Apart from the SCO Member States, the four Observer States of SCO will also participate- including the President of Afghanistan, the First Vice President of Iran, the Prime Minister of Belarus and the Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia. Turkmenistan has been invited as a Special Guest of the Host and will be represented by the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers.</span>