The 182-meter tall Sardar Vallabhai Patel statue in Gujarat also called the “Statue of Unity” has been included in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s ‘8 Wonders of SCO’ list. The SCO refers to a grouping of eight nations, including China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan.
Foreign Minister of India S Jaishankar who met Secretary general of SCO, Vladimir Norov to review the progress in co-operation between member states of SCO as India prepares to take up the responsibility of chairing the council of SCO heads of government made the announcement on Twitter.
Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar appreciated the SCO’s efforts towards promoting tourism among member nations and asserted that the statue’s inclusion in the list will “surely serve as an inspiration”.
“Appreciated the #SCO’s efforts to promote tourism among member states. The “8 Wonders of SCO”, which includes the #StatueofUnity, will surely serve as an inspiration,” Jaishankar tweeted.
The official Twitter handle of Statue of Unity had, earlier in the day, announced that the structure has been honoured by the SCO.
The statue was inaugurated in October 2018 by Prime Minister of India, Naredra Modi on the occasion of Sardar Vallabhai Patel’s 143rd birth anniversary.