PM Modi arrives in Samarkand for SCO Summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he was looking forward to exchanging views during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Uzbekistan on topical, regional, and international issues. The summit will take place on Friday in Samarkand, Uzbekistan where Prime Minister Modi will join Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping to deliberate on regional security challenges, boosting trade and energy supplies among other issues.
Modi landed in Samarkhand at 10:30 pm (Indian Time) and tweeted his arrival photos:
Landed in Samarkand to take part in the SCO Summit. pic.twitter.com/xaZ0pkjHD1
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 15, 2022
In his departure statement ahead of the visit to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, the Prime Minister also said the expansion of the SCO grouping may also be discussed. Besides Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Iran President Ebrahim Raisi are among the 15 leaders taking part in the event.
Modi is likely to hold bilateral meetings with Putin and Raisi on the sidelines of the summit on Friday. As regards the likelihood of such meetings with the Chinese President, Sharif and Putin there was no official word so far.
Asked about the chances of the meeting days after India and China pulled back their respective troops from the stand-off site at Gogra Hot Springs (Patrolling Point-15) in Eastern Ladakh, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said here on Thursday “We will keep you apprised when scheduled of Modi’s bilateral meetings unfolds.”
The Prime Minister is visiting Uzbekistan at the invitation of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. In his statement, Modi said “I will be visiting Samarkand at the invitation of President of Uzbekistan H.E. Mr. Shavkat Mirziyoyev to attend the Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
“At the SCO Summit, I look forward to exchanging views on topical, regional, and international issues, the expansion of SCO, and on further deepening of multifaceted and mutually beneficial cooperation within the organization. Under the Uzbek Chairship, a number of decisions for mutual cooperation are likely to be adopted in areas of trade, economy, culture, and tourism.
“I also look forward to meeting President Mirziyoyev in Samarkand. I fondly recall his visit to India in 2018. He also graced the Vibrant Gujarat Summit as its Guest of Honour in 2019. In addition, I will hold bilateral meetings with some of the other Leaders attending the Summit.”
Giving details of his schedule at the summit called Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Kwatra said India expects discussions at the forum to cover topical issues, trade, connectivity, and regional cooperation.
The Prime Minister will also have bilateral meetings with the Uzbek president and some other leaders on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit. Asked about Pakistan continuing to back various terror groups, Kwatra said there is a deeply held understanding in SCO about ways to deal with terrorism in the region. The member states of the SCO are Russia, China, India, Pakistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
“Prime Minister is there for the SCO Summit for a brief period; he reaches there later tonight, attends the restricted and extended sessions and a couple of other engagements tomorrow, along with a set of bilateral meetings. He is then scheduled to return tomorrow night,” Kwatra said.
The SCO Summit in Samarkand will have two sessions — one restricted session which is only meant for the SCO member states and then there will be an extended session that is likely to see the participation of the observers and the special invitees of the chair country.
The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became their permanent members in 2017. Iran is likely to be given the status of a permanent member of the SCO at the Samarkand Summit.
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