President Xi to meet PM Modi on sidelines of SCO summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit this week at Bishkek where he would also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first meeting between the two leaders after the BJP's massive victory in the general elections.

Xi will pay state visits to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan from June 12 to 16, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang announced here on Sunday.

The SCO summit is due to be held on June 13-14 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The SCO is a China-led eight-member economic and security bloc with India and Pakistan being admitted to the grouping in 2017.

From June 12 to 14, President Xi will pay a state visit to Kyrgyzstan and attend SCO summit, Lu said in a statement.

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri said last week that the two leaders would meet on the side-lines of the SCO summit.

Recalling last year's successful first ever informal summit between Xi and Modi at Wuhan which was widely regarded a milestone in the bilateral ties, Misri said, "it is worth mentioning that last year, our leaders met four times on the sidelines of different multi-lateral meetings."