External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to visit Moscow for Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be visiting Moscow for Shanghai Cooperation organisation (SCO) Foreign Minister Meet. In-person SCO FMs meet is on 10th September in Russia.

In a brief response during the weekly presser, Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "EAM will be visiting Moscow for SCO FMs meet"

This will be EAM Jaishankar's first visit outside the country in month as COVID pandemic impacted global travel.

Russia is the host of the BRICS and SCO groupings and sent the invitation. India, Pakistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are part of the SCO grouping.

Earlier this year in April, EAM was part of BRICS COVID FMs virtual meet and will be again part of another BRICS meeting on Friday.

Asked if EAM will meet Chinese FM Wang Yi, MEA spokesperson said, "once his engagements are finalized, we will let you know".

This will be the first time both Indian and Chinese FMs will be under the same roof after the Galwan incident of 15th June in which India lost 20 of its soldiers. Both FMs were part of RIC FMs--Russia, India and China and G20 virtual meet since then.