PM MODI, SHEHBAZ, XI AND PUTIN LIKELY TO MEET AT SCO SUMMIT IN SAMARKAND

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to meet his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit scheduled to be held on September 15 and 16 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

PM Modi will be visiting Samarkand to attend the 22nd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State, as per an MEA press release. PM Modi will be in Samarkand at the invitation of Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

“At the invitation of the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be visiting Samarkand, Uzbekistan on 15-16 September 2022 to attend the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO),” read an MEA press release.

The SCO Summit will be attended by leaders of SCO Member States, Observer States, Secretary General of the SCO, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), President of Turkmenistan and other invited guests.

During the Summit, the leaders are expected to review the organization’s activities over the past two decades and discuss the state and prospects of multilateral cooperation. Topical issues of regional and global importance are also expected to be discussed at the meeting.

Prime Minister Modi is also likely to hold a few bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Summit.

The 21st Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State was held on September 17, 2021, in Dushanbe in a hybrid format. President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon chaired the meeting.

PM Modi led the Indian delegation and addressed the plenary session of the Summit via video link. At Dushanbe, India was represented by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

It was the first SCO Summit being held in a hybrid format and the fourth Summit that India participated in as a full-fledged member of SCO. The Summit assumed significance as the organization celebrated its 20th anniversary this year.

The 20th Summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State was held on November 10, 2020 (in Video Conference Format). The Meeting was chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

PM Modi led the Indian delegation. The other SCO Member States were represented by their Presidents, while India and Pakistan were represented at the level of Prime Minister. Other participants were — Secretary General of the SCO Secretariat, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, the Presidents of the four Observers (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, Mongolia) of the SCO.

This was the first SCO Summit held in Virtual Format and the third meeting that India participated in after becoming a full member in 2017. PM Modi in his address to the SCO leaders congratulated President Vladimir Putin for organizing the meeting despite challenges and constraints arising due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier, PM Modi attended the 19th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State (CHS) of SCO from June 13-14, 2019 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.