Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Astana on Thursday to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which will be helf on Friday, 9 June. This is the second visit of the PM in Central Asia since 2015. India will be announced as the member of SCO during the summit. By being a member of SCO, India will expand its presence in resource rich region of Central Asia as well as Afghanistan and it will also help in strengthening regional anti-terror ties.
On Thursday evening, PM Modi and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev held talks on expanding strategic partnership across different sectors like defence, nuclear and hydrocarbon and investments. One of the officials stated that “It is significant for Delhi to become a member of a key regional organisation like SCO in India’s western neighbourhood where the Modi government is pushing connectivity initiatives.” Modi was the first PM to visit all five Central Asian states in 2015, which strengthened the bond and helped India get the membership of SCO.
Besides the summit, Naredra Modi is also likely to meet the Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Friday after the summit. The two leaders will hold discussions on India’s decision to skip OBOR summit and China’s inflexibility on India’s proposed Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership. China had recently said that it is complicated for India to be a member of NSG. India had skipped the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) summit in Beijing, on the grounds that the economic relations between China and Pakistan violates India’s sovereignty. The next NSG meet is scheduled in Berne between June 19-23.
Apart from this Narendra Modi also met with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday,he exchanged greetings in person for the first time since Dec 2015. Ties between India and Pakistan have been particularly chilly since January 2015 when Pakistan backed terrorists attacked an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot and the recent Kulbhushan Jadhav episode. Nevertheless, Modi inquired about his health as they met for the first time after Sharif’s operation and also asked about Sharif’s mother and family.
Founded in Shanghai in 1996, SCO at present comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan are also now members of SCO.
Both the countries had signed a Memorandum of Obligations to join the organisation in last year’s summit in Tashkent.