The reception at the sea-side Taj Exotica Resort in Benaulim was attended by Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Russia’s Sergey Lavrov and Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Uzbekistan’s Bakhtiyor Saidov and SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming.
India became the chair of the SCO in 2023. The SCO was formed by China, Russia and four Central Asian countries in 2001 as a countermeasure to limit the influence of Western alliances such as NATO.
Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu are among those who are visiting India to attend the meeting. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will chair the meeting that is expected to deliberate on the regional security situation including developments in Afghanistan
Pakistan s foreign ministry said that Bhutto-Zardari will lead the Pakistani delegation to the meeting of SCO foreign ministers (CFM) scheduled to be held on May 4-5 in Goa.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said in an interview that his visit to India to participate in a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council should not be seen as a bilateral one.