India will host a summit of the council of heads of government of the SCO on November 30

India will host a summit of the council of heads of government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on November 30 with a focus on contributing to the trade and economic agenda of the influential grouping, a senior official in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said.

The SCO comprises eight member states — India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

India has been focussing on expanding its cooperation with the SCO, an eight-nation regional grouping that represents around 42% of the world’s population and 20% of the global GDP.

“India’s chairmanship of the SCO council of heads of government during 2020 culminating in the summit in India on November 30, affords us an opportunity to contribute in a substantive way on the trade and economic agenda of SCO – that will be the main mandate of the summit,” Vikas Swarup, Secretary (West) in the MEA, said on Wednesday.