The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has called for “improving regional rail connectivity” in the Eurasian region to bolster economic cooperation at the meeting of railway administrations on 8-10 May, as per a statement by the Indian Ministry of Railways.
The deliberations also focussed on enhancing infrastructure development, multimodal transportation and using the latest technologies to facilitate trade and economic activities, as per the statement.
It said that the SCO nations also adopted the ‘Work Plan’ for 2023-25 as well as sanctioned the ‘Action Plan’ for implementing the ‘Concept of Interaction between Railway Administration’ among the governments.
The meeting was chaired by Jaya Varma Sinha, Member (Operations and Business Development) at the Railway Board, India’s Ministry of Railways.
Representatives of other SCO states — Russia, China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan — also attended the meeting, as per the statement.
SCO Foreign Ministers Meeting
The SCO states have been making all out efforts to fully operationalize the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a 7,200 km network of road, railways and maritime routes linking Russia to Iran and India through central Asia.
As articulated by Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar at the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting last week, boosting connectivity among the SCO states is one of the priorities of India, the current president of SCO.
For his part, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang also stressed upon the need of “interconnected development” during his remarks to his other SCO counterparts.
“China will take its hosting of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation this year as an important opportunity to work with all other parties to ensure that the road to opportunity and prosperity will enjoy broader prospects in a new decade,” Qin said.