External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Kazakhstan for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and met his Kazakh counterpart Murat Nurtleu in Astana on Tuesday, ahead of the two-day meeting. The two leaders exchanged views on various issues, including India's increasing engagement with Central Asia.
In a tweet, Jaishankar said he was "delighted" to meet Nurtleu and both exchanged views on regional and global issues.
"Delighted to meet DPM and FM Murat Nurtleu of Kazakhstan in Astana today. Thanked him for the hospitality and arrangements for the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit. Discussed our expanding Strategic Partnership and India’s increasing engagement with Central Asia in various formats. Also exchanged views on regional and global issues," he tweeted on Tuesday.
Jaishankar will represent India at the SCO Summit on July 3 and 4, which is expected to focus on the regional security situation and ways to boost connectivity and trade.
The SCO, comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, is an influential economic and security bloc that has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.
India’s priorities in SCO are shaped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a ‘SECURE’ SCO. SECURE stands for Security, Economic cooperation, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Environmental protection, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.
At the summit, the leaders are expected to review the organisation’s activities over the past two decades and discuss the state and prospects of multilateral cooperation, according to the MEA. Topical issues of regional and international importance are also expected to be discussed at the meeting, it said.
The situation in Afghanistan, the Ukraine conflict and boosting overall security cooperation among the SCO member countries are expected to figure in the summit.
Generally, the Indian Prime Minister participates in the SCO summit. However, PM Modi is not participating in the annual meeting this year as he is occupied with the ongoing Parliament session.
In a phone conversation on Tuesday, PM Modi conveyed to Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev India's full support for the success of the summit. Kazakhstan is hosting the meeting in its capacity as the current chair of the grouping.
India was the chair of the SCO last year. It hosted the summit in the virtual format in July last year.
India's association with the SCO began in 2005 as an observer country. It became a full member state of SCO along with Pakistan at the Astana summit in 2017.
India has shown a keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.
In 2001, the SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
(with inputs from PTI)
Published By:
Prateek Chakraborty
Published On:
Jul 3, 2024
English (US) ·