Representatives of member states will focus on the organization's trade and economic agenda

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent India at the 21st Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) to be held on Tuesday (November 1), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday.

The meeting will be held in a virtual format.

The meeting will be attended by SCO Member States, Observer States, the SCO Secretary General, the Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), Turkmenistan, and other invited guests.

According to MEA, the annual meeting focuses on the organization's trade and economic agenda and approves its annual budget.

"India remains actively engaged in various SCO activities/dialogue mechanisms in the region as well as other multilateral cooperation within the SCO framework," the MEA added.

The leaders of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan established the SCO at a conference in Shanghai in 2001. India became a permanent member in 2017. Pakistan is the eighth member of the regional grouping.

Over time, the SCO has grown to be one of the biggest worldwide transregional organisations.