India to host SCO summit in virtual format on July 4

India will host the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the virtual format on July 4, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Tuesday.

However, it did not cite reasons for holding the summit in the virtual mode.

Last year, the in-person SCO summit took place in the Uzbek city of Samarkand that was attended by all top leaders of the grouping including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

In September, India will host the G20 summit for which it is going to invite Xi and Putin, besides other leaders of the bloc.

India assumed the rotating chairmanship of the SCO at the Samarkand Summit on September 16 last year.

"Under India's first-ever chairmanship, the 22nd summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State will be held in the virtual format on July 4, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," the MEA said in a statement.

India hosted the foreign ministers of the SCO at a two-day conclave in Goa earlier this month.