Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 23rd Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi welcomed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, on the occasion of Iran’s maiden inclusion in the summit.

In his virtual address, the Prime Minister shared that India’s approach to multilateralism was based on two principles - Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam meaning “The World Is One Family” and SECURE, which stands for Security, Economic development, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Environmental protection.

Modi mentioned the five pillars of the summit namely, startups and innovation, traditional medicine, youth empowerment, digital inclusion, and shared Buddhist heritage. Highlighting India’s efforts as chair, he said, “India has made efforts to ensure that cooperation within the SCO is not limited to governments alone. Under India's chairmanship, new initiatives have been taken to enhance contact and engagement among people.”

As chair India organized the SCO Millet Food Festival, Film Festival, SCO Surajkund Craft Mela, Think Tanks Conference, and the International Conference on Shared Buddhist Heritage for the first time, the PM underlined.