SCO Ministers meet today to discuss economic ties

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Last Updated06/05/2023

The agenda for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers meeting will be stepping up economic cooperation
It will also include discussing national currency payments for mutual trade

The proposal comes in the wake of the Ukraine war and sanctions imposed on Russia
The most important work before the SCO Foreign Ministers will be to assess the status of decisions that will be approved at the SCO Summit in New Delhi in July
India is already in bilateral discussions with Russia on using national payments, third-country payments and other means over circumventing unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the European Union
It is also part of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) grouping that is also discussing a multilateral payment mechanism.
Traditionally, security and terrorism used to dominate the SCO’s agenda
But during its presidency, India is bringing on the table issues of economic and cultural cooperation between the members as well
The External Affairs Minister and SCO Secretary-General reviewed 15 “decision points” that would be discussed and approved by the Foreign Ministers after Friday morning’s SCO meeting, and MoUs will be signed.
A final decision on all the points, including the national payments collaboration will be taken at the SCO Heads of State Summit in July this year
While all other countries are represented by their Presidents, India and Pakistan are represented by their Prime Ministers at the HoS meeting.
The SCO Foreign Ministers will discuss the induction of Iran and Belarus as full members at their meeting, and will forward their applications to the summit.