PM Modi departs for Bishkek to attend SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan, to hold bilateral meetings with China and Russia

India will also hold bilateral meetings with President Xi Jinping of China and President Vladimir Putin of Russia on the sidelines of the SCO summit at Bishkek this week.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has departed for a two-day visit to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on June 13-14. (ANI)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has departed for a two-day visit to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on June 13-14. India will also hold bilateral meetings with President Xi Jinping of China and President Vladimir Putin of Russia on the sidelines of the SCO summit at Bishkek this week, the Ministry of External Affairs stated during a press briefing on Monday. The bilaterals will take place when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek to attend the meeting of Council of Heads of State (CHS) of SCO from June 13 to 14.

Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi departs for Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan where he will attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on June 13-14. He will also hold bilateral meetings with President Xi Jinping of China and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. pic.twitter.com/3OI3kXholK

— ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2019

Modi before embarking his journey to the country said the global security situation as well as economic cooperation will be on the agenda at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan, and asserted that his visit to the Central Asian country will strengthen India's ties with the SCO member states. "We attach special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interaction in the region. India has actively participated in various SCO dialogue mechanisms since its full membership of SCO two years ago," he said. India has extended full cooperation to the chairmanship of the Kyrgyz Republic over the past year, Modi said. "The Summit is expected to discuss the global security situation, multilateral economic cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and topical issues of international and regional importance. On the sidelines of the Summit, I also plan to meet several leaders bilaterally," he said.

After the SCO Summit, I shall be holding extensive talks with President Jeenbekov of the Kyrgyz Republic as a part of a bilateral visit.

I will jointly address the first meeting of India-Kyrgyz Business Forum, an endeavour to promote commercial linkages between our nations. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 12, 2019

Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will also attend the summit and there was speculation that he and Modi may hold a meeting on the sidelines of the multilateral forum. This will be the first time two leaders will come face to face after months of tension between two countries, which began with February 14 Pulwama attack on a CRPF convoy in which at least 40 jawans were killed. However, on Monday, the MEA spokesperson said no such meeting has been arranged between the two leaders. Prime Minister Modi will not fly over Pakistan on his way to Bishkek on Thursday to attend the SCO summit, the MEA said. It said Modi's aircraft will fly over Oman, Iran and several Central Asian countries to reach the Kyrgyz capital. Pakistan fully closed its airspace on February 26 after the Indian Air Force struck a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist training camp in Balakot. Since then, it has only opened two routes, both of them pass through southern Pakistan, of the total 11. On its part, the IAF announced on May 31 that all temporary restrictions imposed on Indian airspace post the Balakot airstrike have been removed. However, it is unlikely to benefit any commercial airliners unless Pakistan reciprocates and opens its complete airspace. (With inputs from agencies)