Prime Minister Narendra Modi today attended the first offline summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in two years in the historic and prestigious Uzbek city of Samarkand to discuss major regional security challenges and issues like trade, investment, and energy supplies.
The SCO is a prominent trans-regional organization spanning South and Central Asia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The following are the highlights of the summit.
- “Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the Shanghai cooperation organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand on Friday. Uzbekistan is the current chair of SCO 2022 whereas India will be the next chair of the SCO. Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev welcomed PM Modi to the Congress Centre in Samarkand for the 22nd SCO summit.” As per the Times of India.
- “Paris climate agreement should be implemented on basis of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities”, says SCO joint statement.
- Chinese President Xi Jinping forewarned his Central Asian neighbors on Friday to not permit outsiders to amalgamate them with “color revolutions” and offered to set up a regional counterterrorism training center. Xi’s comments at a security summit along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders from Central Asia, India, and Iran show the official Chinese anxiety that Western support for pro-democracy and human rights activists is a plot to undermine Xi’s governing Communist Party and other authoritarian governments.
- “I don’t think Pakistan PM and Indian PM contradicted each other on this issue. All those participating in this conference want transit trade.” said Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the issue of transit trade, at the SCO summit in Uzbekistan.
- PM Modi expects the Indian economy to grow by 7.5% this year. “I’m glad that India is one among the fastest growing economies in the world”, he says.
- “I know about your position on the conflict in Ukraine & also about your concerns. We want all of this to end as soon as possible. We will keep you abreast of what is happening there” Russian President Putin during a bilateral meeting with PM Modi.
- PM Narendra Modi says that It’s not an era of war as he speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- “Excellency, I know today’s time is not a time for war,” PM Modi told Putin in Samarkand as the two leaders began their first face-to-face meeting since Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine in February.
- The major concerns which were brought up in their meeting were food, fertilizer, fuel, and security.
- “We spoke on the phone several times about India-Russia bilateral relations and also on various issues. We should find ways to address the problems of food, fuel security & fertilizers. I want to thank Russia & Ukraine for helping us to evacuate our students from Ukraine.”, says PM Narendra Modi at his meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
- “I know about your position on the conflict in Ukraine & also about your concerns. We want all of this to end as soon as possible. We will keep you abreast of what is happening there.”, says Russian President Putin during a bilateral meet with PM Modi.
PM Modi at SCO summit requests transit access.
At the Shanghai Group Summit, PM Modi Calls for Transit Access Among SCO Nations
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday requested the SCO to develop reliable and consistent supply chains to control the disruptions and difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis and said better connectivity and granting “full rights” of transit facilities by member states are significant to achieve the goal.
Climate change discussed
At the Summit, Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif Describes Pakistan As A “Sea Of Water” After Floods mercilessly destroyed the land.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday spoke to the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation mentioning that Pakistan resembled “a sea of water” after the unforeseeable floods hit his country and called for immediate action to tackle climate change.
Shehbaz Sharif was addressing the SCO’s Council of Heads of State (CHS) Summit here in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, where he spoke about the climate catastrophe that has led to floods that killed more than 1,500 persons and affected over 33 million people.
