PM Modi reaches Qingdao for SCO Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Qingdao city in China's Shandong Province on Saturday afternoon to attend two-day 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.

He was received at Qingdao Liuting International Airport by China's Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui, Vice Governor Shandong Province Ren Airong and Vice Mayor Qingdao City Zhang Deping.

Prior to his departure, the Prime Minister posted a message regarding the summit on his official Facebook account.

"The SCO has a rich agenda for cooperation, ranging from fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism to promoting cooperation in connectivity, commerce, customs, law, health and agriculture; protecting the environment and mitigating disaster risk, and fostering people-to-people relations," Prime Minister Modi said.

He also revealed that he would be holding multiple meetings with the heads of various SCO member states on the sidelines of the summit.

This will be India's first participation in the summit as a full-time member of the organisation. India, along with Pakistan, became the full-time member during Astana Summit in Kazakhstan in June 2017.

Prime Minister Modi is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping apart from holding meetings with various other participating leaders.

Member-countries, including India, Pakistan, China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, are expected to sign the Qingdao Declaration, after the deliberations.

The declaration is expected to contain details for creating significant mechanisms to resist terror activities around the globe.

The SCO is a permanent inter-governmental international organisation that focuses on strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among member states and promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, and making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region.

The SCO has two sub-divisions, including, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) and the SCO Secretariat.