PM Modi, Xi, Putin, Shehbaz Sharif To Attend First In-Person SCO Summit In 2 Years. What To Expect?

Russia has confirmed a meeting between Vladimir Putin and PM Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the SCO summit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L), Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C) and Chinese President Xi Jinping

Source : Getty Images

After a two year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will hold its first in-person summit in Samarkand in Uzbekistan on Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif along with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will be attending the two-day summit.

While Russia has confirmed a meeting between Putin and Modi on the sidelines of the SCO summit, it remains to be seen if there is any "pull-aside meeting" of the Indian PM with leaders of China and Pakistan.

The SCO has eight full members, including its six founding members -- China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined as full members in 2017.

SCO Summit Begins On Thursday. What To Expect?

• In the SCO meeting, leaders will deliberate on important global and regional issues, including climate change, food security energy security, and sustainable supply chains.
• Pakistan has said PM Shehbaz Sharif had no plans to meet his Indian counterpart on the sidelines of the summit. Though a brief courtesy meeting between Modi and Sharif is possible, they will not be holding talks as none of the two sides have sought a meeting, IANS quoted an official as saying.
• The participation of Chinese President Xi Jinping in the summit has created a buzz as he has not attended any global event out of China in more than two years over Covid concerns.
• China has declined to confirm reports of Xi's meeting with Modi on the sidelines of the summit. The SCO summit comes on the backdrop of China acceding to India's demand to disengage from the contentious PP 15 at Gogra and Hot Springs in eastern Ladakh.
• However, a meeting is scheduled between Jinping and Russia's Putin. They will discuss the war in Ukraine and other "international and regional topics" at their meeting, the Kremlin has said.
• Iran will be formally admitted into the influential grouping at the Samarkand SCO summit. Iran will attend the next summit to be held in India.
• Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has applied for full membership and is expected to join the grouping soon.
• Heads of the state of Iran, Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia, the two countries which are locked in military conflict, are due to be present at the Samarkand summit.

READ | PM Modi, Shehbaz Sharif Meeting Unlikely During SCO Summit In Uzbekistan