PM Modi set to attend SCO Summit in Samarkand with Jinping, Shehbaz on Sep 15 and 16; key bilateral meetings on cards

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand on September 15 and 16, reported The Sunday Express. This will be the first in-person summit after June 2019 when the SCO summit was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

According to sources quoted by Sunday Express, PM Modi is likely to reach Samarkand on September 14 and return on September 16.

India will assume the rotational presidency of the grouping this time for a year till September 2023. This means that Delhi will host the next SCO Summit which will be attended by leaders of China, Russia and Pakistan among others.

PM Modi is set to hold a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit in Samarkand. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif are expected to attend the summit.

Reports are rife that Modi may hold a bilateral meeting with Jinping on the sidelines of the event. However, an official confirmation from both the neighbouring countries is still awaited. It was earlier reported that the chances of Jinping attending the meeting were slim as the leader had not left China since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal cited Jinping’s office saying that he may attend in person, and bilateral meetings with the leaders of Pakistan, India and Turkey may also take place. Officials, however, have warned that the Chinese leader’s plans may change and that he may simply attend virtually.

However, Putin is reportedly keen on an in-person summit in Samarkand that will focus, among other things, on the security and human rights situation in Afghanistan. Pakistan PM Shehbaz Khan is expected to travel to Uzbekistan for the summit.

While the border disengagement process with China in eastern Ladakh is still ongoing, both parties agree that the military standoff, which began in May 2020, has been resolved at many points of contention.

Similarly, there has been no official outreach between India and Pakistan for a bilateral meeting between Sharif and Modi.

The report quoted sources saying that the geopolitical situation arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its impact is likely to be discussed during the meeting. Besides, the situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime will be on the table as well since many SCO member countries are neighbours of Afghanistan.