India to host SCO summit virtually.

ISLAMABAD -- In a surprise move, India has decided to host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit virtually in the first week of July - raising the question as to why New Delhi is avoiding hosting regional leaders in person.

India is the current president of SCO, which comprises Russia, China, Pakistan and key central Asian states. The Indian external affairs ministry on Tuesday said in a statement that the summit would be held virtually on July 4.

'Under India's first-ever Chairmanship, the 22nd Summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State will be held virtually on July 4, 2023, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the chair,' the Indian external affairs ministry statement read.

No reason was given for the decision but observers believe that there may be multiple factors. One reason could be China. It was not clear whether Chinese President Xi Jinping was to travel to New Delhi in July. Both the Chinese and Russian presidents are set to attend the G20 summit in India in September too.

Read India, Pakistan in rare handshake moment

The other factor could be that India does not give the same importance to SCO given it is dominated by China and Russia. Nevertheless, its decision to host the summit virtually raised many eyebrows.

India assumed the rotating chairmanship of the SCO at the Samarkand Summit on...