STATE TIMES NEWS
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair a meeting of heads of departments of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) dealing with prevention and elimination of emergency situations here on Thursday.
The home minister will also hold bilateral meetings with the ministers of some of the SCO member states on Thursday on the sidelines of the SCO meeting.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has been actively participating in SCO and providing substantial support to various mechanisms in the forum, according to an official statement.
At the meeting, the delegates from SCO member states will share information relating to the large-scale emergency situations which occurred in their respective territories and the measures taken to handle them.
The delegates will also share their views on the innovative practices, technologies and future prospects for cooperation in the field of prevention and elimination of emergency situations within the framework of the SCO.
Based on these deliberations, the member-states will enhance cooperation in the field of preparedness, emergency response and to jointly mitigate the impact arising out of natural and man-made disasters within the framework of the SCO, the statement said.
The participants will also discuss and approve the action plan for the implementation of the agreement between the SCO member states on cooperation in providing assistance in the elimination of emergency situation in 2023-2025.
The action plan will contribute to stepping up cooperation in dealing with prevention and elimination of emergency situations among SCO member-states, it said.
Since its accession as a full-fledged member state in 2017, India has maintained an active engagement with the organisation and New Delhi is focusing on initiating proposals for mutual benefit of SCO member states, observers and dialogue partners, according to the statement.
India assumed the rotating presidency of the SCO at the 2022 SCO Summit held in Samarkand in Uzbekistan and will host the next summit of council of heads of state this year, the statement added.