Varanasi has been nominated as the first-ever SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital during 2022-2023. The decision was taken at the 22nd Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of State in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the Summit.
The MEA in its press release informed that the nomination of Varanasi as the first ever SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital will promote tourism and cultural and humanitarian exchanges between India and the SCO member Countries. It also underlines India’s ancient civilizational links with the Member States of SCO, especially the Central Asian Republics.
Under the framework of this significant cultural outreach program, a number of events will be hosted in Varanasi during 2022-23, for which guests will be invited to participate from the SCO Member States. These events are expected to attract Indologists, scholars, authors, musicians and artists, photojournalists, travel bloggers and other invited guests.
The regulations for the nomination of the SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital were adopted at the Dushanbe SCO Summit in 2021 with the objective of promoting cooperation between the SCO Member States in the field of culture and tourism.
Dr. Niranjan B Poojar 
Balaji Subramanian