Sandeep Dikshit
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 15
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Thursday evening to attend the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
On arrival, he was received by Uzbekistan Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov along with several Ministers and the Governor of Samarkand region, an official release said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold bilateral talks with the Russian, Iranian and Uzbek Presidents, besides attending the summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Friday during a compact 24-hour long visit to Samarkand.
PM Modi will be perhaps the only SCO leader to skip the ceremonials on Thursday that included a boat ride through a bedecked Samarkand and a gala dinner.
The PM along with other leaders of the SCO, whose many members and observers are in conflict, will consider its expansion from the current eight to include Iran.
SCO Observer Belarus wants to become a full member as do Afghanistan and Mongolia. From the neighbourhood, the Maldives and Nepal are also keen to be associated as Dialogue Partners or Observers. With the Taliban not invited, Afghanistan’s case will remain in a limbo.
India expects the discussions at the SCO summit to cover topical regional and international issues, the regional security situation, strengthening connectivity and boosting trade, said Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra at the pre-departure meeting.
Russian and Iranian media have confirmed that Vladimir Putin and Ebrahim Raisi have meetings lined up with PM Modi in the short window on Thursday between a restricted session of eight SCO members and an extended session comprising Observers and Dialogue Partners.
Though the Foreign Secretary denied that SCO was China-centric, Beijing’s heft was visible. While Putin was received at the airport by Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov, Xi was received by the Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Kwatra said the centricity of Central Asian countries is an important pillar of SCO. “India’s regional interests in SCO are associated with cooperation with the member countries, cooperation with the five countries of Central Asia within those member countries. We believe that it is not central to any one country but to the region,” he observed.
India will also be the only country to stay away from endorsing the reference to China’s Belt and Road Initiative which is expected to be mentioned in the SCO’s Samarkand Declaration.
SCO essentially focuses on topics of interest that are topical to the region and doesn’t go into the details of bilateral issues between the two countries, he said when asked about the conflicts within the SCO membership.
