Modi, Putin to meet for bilateral talks at SCO summit: Russian envoy

Russian President Vladimir Putin will have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the 22nd Summit of the Council of Heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States (SCO-CoHS) in Uzbekistan's Samarkand, said Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov, on Thursday.

"There will be a number of meetings in Samarkand, including with PM Modi," Alipov said in an interview with ANI.

The 22nd Summit of the Council of Heads of the SCO Member States (SCO-CoHS) is set to commence on Thursday in Samarkand, Uzbekistan after a two-year-long hiatus, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"SCO has been very succesful. It is an established organisation with various mechanisms and extensive cooperation on various tracks. Hundreds of mechanisms operate under the SCO organisation, not only on political matters and matters related to security, but primarily in economic area, in trade, and in creating opportunities, jobs for the people of the member countries," the Russian envoy noted.

"This is an organisation that has been a factor of stability in the region. Its influence increasing reflects in the intentions and desire of many countries to join the organisation," Alipov added.

Leaders of SCO Member States, Observer States, Secretary General of the SCO, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), President of Turkmenistan and other invited guests will be in attendance.

The leaders are expected to review the organisation's activities over the past two decades, and discuss the state and prospects of multilateral cooperation. Topical issues of regional and global importance are also expected to be discussed at the meetings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the summit for two days: Thursday, and Friday, where he would hold bilateral meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. He would also have other bilateral meetings during the summit which begins on September 14 at Samarkand

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi are also expected to attend the summit. Uzbekistan is the current chair of SCO 2022. India will be next.

The SCO currently comprises eight member states (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), four Observer States interested in acceding to full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia), and six "Dialogue Partners" (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey).

The SCO has potential in various new sectors, and encourages member-states to find converging interests in these sectors. India has already pushed hard for cooperation in fields like startups and innovation; science and technology; and traditional medicine.

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