Bishkek, July 19 (IANS) Union Minister of Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Sunday represented India at the 23rd Meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States in Kyrgyzstan’s Cholpon Ata.
On Saturday, Chinarbek Zholdoshev, Head of the Department of Cultural and Material Heritage of Kyrgyzstan and India’s Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Birender Singh Yadav, welcomed Shekhawat at the airport in Bishkek.
“Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Hon’ble Minister of Culture was warmly welcomed by Mr. Chinarbek Zholdoshev, Head of the Department of Cultural and Material Heritage of the Kyrgyz Republic and Ambassador Singh on his arrival at Bishkek. Hon’ble Minister will be participating in the 23rd Meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the SCO Member States being held in Cholpon Ata from 18-20 July 2026,” Indian Embassy in Kyrgyzstan posted on X.
Kyrgyzstan holds the SCO chairmanship for 2025-2026 and President Sadyr Japarov has announced ’25 Years of the SCO: Together Towards Sustainable Peace, Development, and Prosperity’ as the theme of its SCO presidency.
Earlier in April, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Bishkek and stressed the urgent need for a collective and uncompromising approach to tackle the “evils” of terrorism, separatism and extremism by dismantling safe havens and rejecting any political justification for such acts.
“Operation Sindoor demonstrated India’s firm resolve that terrorism epicentres are no longer immune to justifiable punishment,” Singh said while addressing the SCO gathering.
He underscored that the global community must remain mindful of the threat posed by state-sponsored cross-border terrorism that undermines the sovereignty of nations, asserting that there is no room for selective approaches or double standards in dealing with such challenges.
Singh emphasised that the SCO must take decisive steps against those who support, shelter or facilitate terrorist activities. “By tackling terrorism, separatism, and extremism without exception, we transform regional security from a challenge into a cornerstone for peace and prosperity,” he said.
Highlighting counter-terrorism as a core principle of the SCO, the Defence Minister noted that the organisation has consistently condemned such acts and ideologies as part of a unified fight against the menace. He also referred to the Tianjin Declaration of the previous year, describing it as a reflection of India’s firm and collective position against terrorism and its perpetrators, reinforcing the country’s zero-tolerance approach.
The SCO was established on June 15, 2001, with its founding members being China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. In 2017, India and Pakistan joined it. In 2023, Iran became a member, followed by Belarus in 2024, bringing the total number of SCO member states to 10.
The SCO has two observer states — Afghanistan and Mongolia — and 14 dialogue partners — Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, the Maldives, Myanmar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait.
–IANS
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