India’s External Affairs Minister, S. M. Krishna, will be in Beijing to participate in the 12th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held from 5-7 June. Krishna is representing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the annual Heads of State summit.
SCO members include Russia, China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In 2004, Mongolia became the group’s first Observer Member, with India, Pakistan and Iran following suit in 2005.
Apart from holding multilateral talks, Krishna will also meet with Chinese vice premier Li Keqiang on June 6. Trade between the two countries crossed $63 billion dollars in the previous year, but the Indian government is concerned about an increasing trade gap that stood at more than $20 billion in China’s favour.