Samarkand: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand on Friday.
Uzbekistan is the current chair of SCO 2022 whereas India will be the next chair of the SCO.
Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev welcomed PM Modi to the Congress Centre in Samarkand for the 22nd SCO Summit.
Putin congratulated India for assuming the presidency the following year. Apart from the Russian President, Chinese President Xi Jinping also congratulated India for the SCO Presidency in 2023 during the meeting of the expanded circle of the Heads of SCO.
“I congratulate India for hosting the SCO next year,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a statement during the summit.
During the bilateral meet, the Russian President said “I know about your position on the conflict in Ukraine & also about your concerns. We want all of this to end as soon as possible. We will keep you abreast of what is happening there,” also gave PM wishes for his birthday.
PM Modi in the meet talked about they (India and Russia) should find ways to address the problems of food, fuel security & fertilizers, he added, “I want to thank Russia & Ukraine for helping us to evacuate our students from Ukraine.”
Notably, this is the first in-person SCO Summit after the Covid pandemic hit the world, since the last in Bishkek in June 2019.
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).