New Delhi, November 30: India will host the Heads of Government (HoG) council meeting of the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Monday. According to reports, Indian PM Narendra Modi will not the meeting and instead Vice president M Venkaiah Naidu will chair the meeting.

The virtual conference will be attended by six Prime Ministers, including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, as well as the PMs of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. PM Modi to Interact With COVID-19 Vaccine Developers Gennova Biopharma, Biological E, Dr Reddy’s Via Video Conference.

Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan will also not join the virtual meeting and he has deputed his Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Andleeb Abbas in his place.

“It will be the first time that a Summit-level Meeting will be held under India’s Chairmanship since it gained full membership of the organization in 2017,” the MEA statement read, adding that, “This Summit is held annually at the level of Prime Ministers of SCO and deals primarily with the trade and economic agenda of the organisation.”

Prime Minister Modi is expected to spend the day in Varanasi & dedicate to the nation six-lane widening project of Handia (Prayagraj)-Rajatalab (Varanasi) section of NH 19. He will also attend Dev Deepawali, undertake site visit of Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor Project and visit Sarnath Archaeological Site.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 30, 2020 08:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).