The SCO now comprises India, China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Iran and Pakistan, covering most of Eurasia…reports Asian Lite News
A day after the country’s full accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) under the rotating presidency of India, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi summoned his top ministers on Wednesday, asking them to “pursue more seriously and quickly” the implementation of the development plans of the Chabahar Port and early completion of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
During the significant meeting held in Tehran, Raisi repeatedly referred to Tuesday’s 23rd Summit of the SCO Heads of State hosted virtually by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and briefed his cabinet ministers about the statements of leaders about the “importance and position of the Chabahar Port” in connecting the Central Asian region to open waters.
Speaking in the meeting of the cabinet on Wednesday morning, Raisi also emphasised the need to make the “joint commissions for cooperation with other countries” more active as a tool for examining ways to strengthen and improve relations with friendly, neighbouring and aligned countries.
“Dr. Amir Abdollahian expressed his hope to witness a new chapter of cooperation in advancing the Chabahar Port and North-South Corridor project,” Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement after Misri’s meeting with Amirabdollahian.
The SCO now comprises India, China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Iran and Pakistan, covering most of Eurasia.
India has been pushing extensively for the utilization of New Delhi-backed Chabahar port in Iran, and its inclusion in the INSTC framework for improving the land-locked Central Asian region’s connectivity with the outside world.
India assumed the rotating Chairmanship of SCO at the Samarkand Summit last September and Iran – an observer state till now – got a full membership of the grouping before its culmination while the process of Belarus’ admission to the organisation has also been accelerated.
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