Tuesday’s virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who highlighted India’s contributions to the organisation during the previous six years. He also emphasised the importance of member countries cooperating to end the threat of terrorism.
“Prime Minister underlined India’s contribution to SCO especially in the last six years as a member state. Highlighted the new spheres of cooperation, introduced and nurtured by India in the SCO, especially in fields of startup and innovation, traditional medicine, youth empowerment, digital inclusion and shared Buddhist heritage of SCO member states,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra averred.
Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, Xi Jinping, the president of China, and Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, were also present at the meeting.
The Prime Minister discussed a wide range of subjects during the meeting on Tuesday, including terrorism and the global food, fuel, and fertiliser problems. In addition, he emphasised the SCO’s need for reform and welcomed Iran as a new permanent member.
“Terrorism remains a major threat to regional and global peace. Decisive action is necessary to meet this challenge. Terrorism may be in any form, in any manifestation and we have to fight together against it,” Modi added.
“It is our shared responsibility to understand each other’s needs and sensitivities and resolve all challenges through better cooperation and coordination,” the PM mentioned.
The comments are made in the midst of India and China’s ongoing border dispute. Since the BRI encompasses the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which travels through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, India has also been highly critical of the initiative.
On September 16 of last year, at the SCO summit in Samarkand, India took over as the organization’s rotating chairman. ‘SECURE-SCO’ is the focus of India’s 2023 SCO Chairmanship.
