PM expected to raise issue of terrorism at SCO summit in Bishkek

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to articulate India's position on dealing with major challenges facing the region including rising threat of terrorism at the annual summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Bishkek on June 13-14.

It will be the first multilateral meeting in which Modi will participate after retaining power for the second consecutive term.

The Prime Minister will have bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the SCO summit, Secretary(West) in the External Affairs Ministry, A Gitesh Sarma, said.

The leaders participating at the summit in Kyrgyzstan are expected to focus on the global security situation, multilateral economic cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and also on topical issues of international and regional importance, he said at a media briefing.

Sarma said India is expected to raise the issue of terrorism at the summit but will not talk about any specific country.

India has been an observer at the SCO since 2005 and has generally participated in the ministerial-level meetings of the grouping which focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian region.

India and Pakistan was granted permanent membership of the SCO in 2017.

Sarma said India is also likely to focus on importance of regional connectivity projects to boost trade among members of the SCO countries.

The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became its members last year.

At present, the SCO represents around 42 per cent of the world's population and 20 per cent of the global GDP.