Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) chaired by India is set to take place in New Delhi today, in which National Security Advisors of SCO members will discuss a range of issues, according to sources.
India will host the SCO – NSA conference today, the agenda of which reportedly consist of assessing the situation of the region and Afghanistan in particular, countering terrorism and drug trafficking.
Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will make the opening remarks at the SCO-NSA summit today, according to ANI news agency. It is reported that Pakistan and China are likely to attend the SCO – NSA meeting virtually.
The SCO summit will likely discuss the situation in Afghanistan because the growing threats of Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K) fighters in the country are of great concern for the SCO member states.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s de facto authorities have announced that Afghan security forces have destroyed several ISIS hideouts in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif province in the past week.
Since the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, ISIS also called Daesh militants has increased brutal attacks across the country, and has been behind several terror incidents, resulting in the death and injury of hundreds of innocent civilians.
According to Hindustan Times, the SCO National Security Advisor will discuss the potential threats from terror groups including IS-K, Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Jaish-e-Mohammed. The SCO member states believe that these terrorist group fighters have a prominent presence in Afghanistan.
While India is hosting the SCO summit in New Delhi today, the next SCO meeting will be the defense ministers’ meeting scheduled to be held in Delhi from April 27-29.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization established in 2001 and it comprises eight member states, namely, India, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
