India's Modi to attend SCO summit in China

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China, India's foreign ministry spokesman said Thursday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during the BRICS Business Council Meeting in the southern Indian state of Goa, Oct. 16, 2016. [Photo: Xinhua]

The forthcoming 18th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be held in Qingdao in China on June 9th and 10th.

"This will be the first SCO summit after India became a member in 2017," Raveesh Kumar told a media briefing.

India, together with Pakistan, was accepted as a full member of the SCO in 2017 during its summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. The organization was established in 2001 by six founding members -- China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The SCO has become the most populous regional organization, covering nearly half of the world's population and accounting for more than 60 percent of the Eurasian landmass as well as over 20 percent of global gross domestic product.