‘Some countries use cross-border terrorism as instrument in sync with their policy’: PM Modi at SCO summit

Ties with Eurasia region

“As Chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), India has made sustained efforts to take our multi-faceted cooperation to new heights,” the PM further said.

The SCO summit was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, among others.

PM Modi also said that India’s thousands of years old people-to-people ties with the Eurasia region are living testimony to the shared heritage. “Over the past two decades, the SCO has emerged as an important platform for peace, prosperity and development in the entire Eurasia region,” he added.

Five new pillars for cooperation in the SCO

India has made five new pillars for cooperation in the SCO, which include Startups and Innovation, Traditional Medicine, Youth Empowerment, Digital Inclusion, Shared Buddhist Heritage, the Prime Minister said.

He also highlighted the fact that food, fuel and fertilizer crisis is a big challenge for all the countries in the world surrounded by  tensions and epidemics. PM Modi also said that India supports the proposal of reform and modernisation of the SCO.

The SCO summit comes at a crucial time, with India’s ties with neighbours Pakistan and China tense and war raging in Europe.

Earlier, the summit was scheduled to take place in-person in New Delhi, but the plan was changed early June.

‘I congratulate President Ebrahim Raisi and Iranian people’

“I am happy that Iran is joining as a new member. I congratulate President Ebrahim Raisi and Iranian people,” Prime Minister Modi said.

Iran is set to be accepted as a member of the Eurasion group in the summit, news agency Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Belarus is likely to sign a memorandum of obligations which will lead to its membership later. Both the countries have an observer status as of now.

India is expected to hand over the presidency of the bloc to Kazakhstan at the summit, as per Reuters.

Russia is ‘united as never before’: Putin at SCO summit

Addressing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday claimed that the Russian people were “united as never before,” as he sought to project confidence in the wake of a short-lived revolt, AP reported.

Speaking via video link from the Kremlin, Putin praised the SCO for “playing an increasingly significant role in international affairs, making a real contribution to maintaining peace and stability, ensuring sustainable economic growth of the participating states, and strengthening ties between peoples.”

He thanked the SCO nations for supporting the Russian authorities during the short-lived armed mutiny mounted by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, and said the West had turned Ukraine into “a virtually hostile state — anti-Russia.”

‘Hydra-headed monster’ of terrorism must be fought with full vigour, conviction: Pak PM Sharif

Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the “hydra-headed monster” of terrorism and extremism whether committed by “individuals, groups or at state level” must be fought with full vigour and conviction, as he warned against using it as a cudgel for diplomatic point-scoring.

Addressing the 23rd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State (CHS), he also talked about religious minorities.

“Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including state terrorism, must be condemned in clear and unambiguous terms. There can be no justification for the killing of innocent people regardless of the cause or pretext,” Sharif was quoted as saying by PTI.

He also noted that while the sacrifices made by Pakistan in fighting the scourge of terrorism were without a parallel, the phenomenon continued to plague the region and was a “serious obstacle” to peace and stability.

India’s SCO journey

India’s association with the SCO began in 2005 as an Observer country. India became a full Member State of SCO at the Astana Summit in 2017, which was a “historic moment” in India’s engagement with the Organisation, according to officials.

The eight-member SCO, formed in 2001 by China and Russia with former Soviet central Asian states as members and joined later by India and Pakistan, is a political and security group that seeks to counter western influence in Eurasia, Reuters  reported.

In the past six years, India has played a “very active and constructive role” in all spheres of activities of SCO, officials said.

In September 2022, India for the first time, took over the presidency of the SCO from Uzbekistan at the Samarkand Summit. The SCO Foreign ministers’ meeting took place in-person in Goa in May this year.

During its presidency, India created five new pillars and focus areas of cooperation in SCO. These are Startups and Innovation, Traditional Medicine, Digital Inclusion, Youth Empowerment and Shared Buddhist Heritage.

This year’s theme

The theme of India’s Presidency of SCO- SECURE is derived from the acronym given by Prime Minister Modi at the 2018 SCO Qingdao Summit.

The meeting is  being held in the context of the border standoff between Indian and Chinese troops, and Chinese President Xi’s presence will be watched closely, as issues of respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty are expected to come up.