Pakistan Charge d'Affaires Salman Sharif attends meeting of ministries responsible for development of physical culture and sports of SCO nations (Image Credit: Twitter/@PakinIndia)

Pakistan High Commission in India tweeted, “Salman Sharif, Charge d’Affaires @PakinIndia represented Pakistan at the meeting of Heads of Ministries and departments responsible for the development of physical culture and sports in the SCO member States held in New Delhi on 15 March 2023.”

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) Anurag Singh Thakur chaired the summit of Ministers of Physical Education and Sports of SCO nations. On March 15, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports concluded the three-day Summit on the topic of ‘Collaboration In Sports and Physical Fitness’ with delegates from Eight Shanghai Corporation Organization (SCO) nations, the Ministry of Youth and Sports said in the press release.

During the meeting, Anurag Singh Thakur said that it is a matter of great pride for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to be hosting members of SCO countries, especially in the 76th year of Indian Independence and the year when India holds the G20 presidency, according to the press release.

Anurag Thakur said, “we are excited to collaborate with SCO nations on a wide array of subjects under the aegis of sports and exchange ideas and use the expertise of each member nation to build a common platform that can help strengthen our common commitment to sports.” He reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making sports a guiding force behind India and making the country an evolving sporting nation, according to the Ministry of Youth and Sports press release.

The representatives of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan attended the meeting. All the sides reaffirmed their commitment to the implementation of international obligations on clean sport, the need for increased cooperation and the organization of conferences in the field of sports education, clean sport and sports science, as per the press release.

The representatives of SCO member states lauded the importance of SCO traditional physical activity such as Yoga, Wushu, etc as a lifestyle as well as sport and acknowledged its role in improving physical fitness.