Kathmandu. The Shanghai Co-operation Organization (SCO) held a virtual meeting of the Council of Heads of Governments which was chaired by India. The meeting took place on November 30,2020. India was represented by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu whereas Pakistan was represented by parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs Andleeb Abbas. The rest of the countries were represented by their prime ministers.

According to an article in The Wire, the meeting of the council of heads of governments is the second highest after heads of state, where they primarily discuss on trade and economic matters. Naidu, the chair of the meeting said, “For trade to play its part in the recovery process, all the partners must be trustworthy and transparent. It is trust and transparency that determine the sustainability of global trade and nations must demonstrate their compliance with multilateral rules of trade to remain a part of this system.” He also added that economic growth will only take place in a peaceful environment, emphasizing that cross-border terrorism is one of the major challenges.

The joint communique of the meeting also stated: “jointly develop a transparent, open, inclusive, fair, non-discriminatory multilateral trading system based on the principles and rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and to promote an open world economy.”

The Shanghai Co-operation Head of States meeting was held on November 10 and was chaired by Russia. Shanghai Co-operation consists of eight members namely: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.