NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday left to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan. The visit is expected to strengthen India's ties with the SCO member states. Earlier, in a statement before his visit to Bishkek from June 13-14, Modi said that on the sidelines of the SCO Summit, he also plans to meet several leaders bilaterally. This will be PM Modi's first participation at a multilateral forum after coming back to power following huge mandate in the Lok Sabha polls last month. The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Organization is a China-led eight-member economic and security bloc with India and Pakistan being admitted to the grouping in 2017.
  • PM Narendra Modi's programme in Bishkek today
1500 hrs - Arrival at Manas International Airport, Bishkek 1650 hrs - Bilateral Meeting with President Xi Jinping of China Xi will pay state visits to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan from June 12 to 16, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang announced on Sunday. Last year's successful first-ever informal summit between Xi and Modi at Wuhan which was widely regarded a milestone in the bilateral ties. 1730 hrs - Bilateral Meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia 1830 hrs - Informal Dinner hosted by President Sooronbay Jeenbekov of Kyrgyzstan India and the Kyrgyz Republic, bound by historical and civilizational links, share traditionally warm and friendly relations. Here Modi will address the first meeting of India-Kyrgyz Business Forum, an endeavour to promote commercial linkages between our nations. Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov had attended Modi's swearing-in ceremony last month. 2200 hrs- Bilateral Meeting with President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan (All times local, approx) Pakistan PM Imran Khan is also scheduled to arrive at the around same time. A dinner hosted by Kyrgyz President at 6:30 PM will be the first opportunity where PM Modi and his Pak counterpart Imran Khan may come face to face. India has said that no bilateral meeting has been planned between Prime Minister Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Khan on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. On Wednesday, it was reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not fly over Pakistan on his way to Bishkek to attend a summit. It said Modi's aircraft will fly over Oman, Iran and several Central Asian countries to reach the Kyrgyz capital. Tensions between India and Pakistan worsened after the Pulwama terror attack and both the countries were almost on the brink of a war after India's military planes struck a terrorist training camp in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26 and Pakistan carried out a counter-offensive the next day. India has not been engaging with Pakistan following the attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together. WATCH: PM Modi's special plane will bypass Pak airspace en route to Kyrgyzstan