Delegations from China, Pakistan attending SCO meet in Delhi

Delegations from China, Pakistan and other member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) are attending a meeting of the grouping being hosted by India that is expected to deliberate on pressing security challenges, including threats of terrorism.

The three-day meeting in New Delhi that began on Wednesday is expected to witness extensive deliberations on regional security scenarios, including the situation in Afghanistan, people familiar with the development said.

Senior officials of the border management forces of the SCO member countries, including those from China and Pakistan, are attending the meeting, they said.

The participation of the Chinese delegation came in the backdrop of a military standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh for over two years.

The meeting is deliberating on a variety of security challenges, including combating terrorism, the people cited above said.

India is hosting the meeting in its capacity as chair of the SCO's Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS).

India assumed the chair of SCO-RATS on October 28 last year for a period of one year.

India has shown keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO-RATS, which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.

Last month, India hosted a meeting of counter-terror experts from the SCO countries.

A similar conference was organised by India in December last year, in which all the SCO member states participated.

The SCO is an influential economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.

The member states of the SCO are Russia, China, India, Pakistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan is among the observer states of the SCO.