Kashi will Become Cultural and Tourism Capital of Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Why in News?

=> Varanasi Commissioner Deepak Agarwal informed that a smart city dossier would be prepared to declare Kashi as cultural and tourism capital of SCO.

Key Points:

=> The year-long events, major venues, catering and other things will be prominently mentioned in the dossier.

=> The purpose of the dossier is to present Kashi as a nomination for the cultural and tourism capital of the SCO at the upcoming summit of the Heads of State of the SCO.

=> Significantly, there is a provision of making one city of the member country as cultural and tourism capital every year by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, under which India has been selected for the period from September 2022 to September 2023.

=> The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an eight-member economic, political and security alliance, established in 2001.

=> It includes China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It was signed by India and Pakistan on 9 June 2017.