PM Modi to visit Uzbekistan for SCO summit on Sept 15-16; Russia, China, and Pak to join

New Delhi, Sept 12: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officially announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Samarkand, Uzbekistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on September 15 and 16.

 

All eight leaders of SCO will be attending the summit next week in person in Samarkand on September 15-16. The Ministry in a statement said, “At the invitation of the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Prime Minister 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).”

 

 

 

It also stated that 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.

 

The press secretary of Uzbekistan's President, Sherzod Asadov, in a Facebook post said that this will be the first in-person meeting of the SCO leaders since 2019 and will conclude the doubly landlocked central Asian country's chairmanship of the organization.

 

 

Apart from Indian PM MOdi and Uzbek President, the leaders include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, and Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon.

 

Reports suggest that PM Modi is also likely to hold few bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Summit. Besides, India's participation is significant as it will assume the rotational presidency of the SCO at the end of the Samarkand summit. Delhi will hold the presidency of the grouping for a year until September 2023. So, next year, India will host the SCO summit which will be attended, among others, by leaders of China, Russia, Pakistan.

 

The grouping, which was formed in 2001, is one of the largest on the planet in terms of geographical size, population, and GDP. Sherzod in the statement said, "The following were at the core of Uzbekistan's chairmanship at SCO: - strengthening of economic ties and trade; promoting industrial and tech. cooperation; furthering broader connectivity; digital transformation and green economy; strengthening the international profile of SCO."

 

In all, 15 leaders will be attending the mega summit, including eight member countries, three observer countries, and four invited guests. The leaders of the observer countries include Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, and Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh. The leaders who have been invited as guests at the summit are Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedow.