Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation 2018, and has reached China’s Qingdao. He is on a two days visit, and apart from taking part in the summit, is also going to hold bilateral talks with the leaders of other countries that are going to attend the event. He is also going to have a meeting with Chinese Leader, Xi Jinping. The two leaders had met last month for an informal summit, but hadn’t singed any agreements. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar, stated on his twitter account, that, “SCO focusses on political, economic, security and cultural cooperation and enables India to engage with Central Asian countries.”
India achieved membership in SCO, in June 2017, and this is the first time the country is going to be represented in China. Mamnoon Hussain, the President of Pakistan is also going to attend the summit, but there is no clarity if he is going to interact with Modi, who is going to hold talks with reportedly a dozen leaders around Asia.
The leader of 8 SCO member countries and 4 observer states are going to attend the summit. It will be an occasion to discuss the mounting problems in the countries and how to stop terrorism, extremism, and global conditions. The 8 member states are: China, India, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan. The observer states are: Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia, and Belarus. The reports suggest that India is going to stress over regional connectivity with other countries, so as to strengthen its trade. Another important discussion could be the growing tension between Pakistan and India. And specifically the terrorist elements in Pakistan that have been responsible for much damage to the lives of people. It is yet to be seen if the two countries are going to hold any sort of talks, or just avoid a potentially stressed conversation.
Leave a Comment