SCO Summit At Bishkek
In a major foreign policy outreach after his resounding electoral victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit at Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek. Addressing the summit, the Indian Prime Minister said that nations which provided encouragement, support and financial help terrorism needed to be called out. He also said unilateralism and protectionism had not benefitted any one. He encapsulated the motto of SCO in the acronym HEALTH-health for cooperation, energy cooperation, alternative energy, literature and culture, terrorism free society, humanitarian cooperation. Mr. Modi emphasised on the need for connectivity in the region and alluded to the efforts by India. Speaking on the imperatives of peace and stability in Afghanistan, he reiterated that it has to be Afghan led, Afghan controlled and Afghan owned.
While the SCO summit has its own strategic significance for the region in particular, and the world at large, the bilateral meetings between the Heads of State and Government got the media headlines. It is against this backdrop that the bilateral meetings that Prime Minister Modi had with President of China Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin after his arrival in Bishkek assumed a great deal of strategic significance. Both President Xi and President Putin had already congratulated Prime Minister Modi on his electoral victory.
Over the years. Mr. Modi has forged a personal bonding with the two leaders. Prime Minister Modi and President Xi have so far met at least twelve times after Mr. Modi became Prime Minister of India. As India continues to be victim of cross border terrorism, the Indian Prime Minsiter told the Chinese President about effort made by India to initiate peace with Pakistan, but these efforts have been “derailed”. He further said that Pakistan needs to create an atmosphere “free of terrorism”.
India’s approach towards SCO is extremely positive. This is reflected by the cultural element which got very strongly reiterated. India agreed to work closely considering that there are so many commonalities between India and most of the countries of Central Asia. Indian films would be screened in the SCO member-states by organizing film festivals. This already has received good response in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Overall, the message was that India would like to see very positive content in the SCO process, India is ready to contribute to that, New Delhi is ready to work with the countries of Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Some of the important outcome documents that came out of the SCO summit were the document of the Anti-Narcotic Strategy and the programme of action. Three documents which were assigned were on healthcare, on environment and on sports cooperation.
In total 14 decisions have been signed by the Council of the Heads of States. On the side-line meets, India signed some cooperation agreements between the SCO and UN specialized agencies.
A joint declaration was signed on terrorism, the principle in the SCO negotiations is of coming to a consensus on a statement. A strong statement against terrorism in a very strong language was endorsed by all the member countries of the SCO. Hence, it was a re-affirmation of the strong stance of the SCO on terrorism.
The roadmap for the next summit was also drawn up. The baton has passed on to Russia which has already informed that the next Summit will have around 90 events during the Summit of the Council of Heads of State. President Putin had in his speech at Bishkek highlighted that Moscow would focus on areas like cyber-terrorism, which is an important area, cooperation in IT and digitization as well as of marking 75 years of the Second World War celebrations. India is committed for a peaceful, developed and terror-free world, which is one of the main pillars of the SCO.
Script: Dr. Rupa Narayan Das, Strategic Analyst on Chinese Affairs
While the SCO summit has its own strategic significance for the region in particular, and the world at large, the bilateral meetings between the Heads of State and Government got the media headlines. It is against this backdrop that the bilateral meetings that Prime Minister Modi had with President of China Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin after his arrival in Bishkek assumed a great deal of strategic significance. Both President Xi and President Putin had already congratulated Prime Minister Modi on his electoral victory.
Over the years. Mr. Modi has forged a personal bonding with the two leaders. Prime Minister Modi and President Xi have so far met at least twelve times after Mr. Modi became Prime Minister of India. As India continues to be victim of cross border terrorism, the Indian Prime Minsiter told the Chinese President about effort made by India to initiate peace with Pakistan, but these efforts have been “derailed”. He further said that Pakistan needs to create an atmosphere “free of terrorism”.
India’s approach towards SCO is extremely positive. This is reflected by the cultural element which got very strongly reiterated. India agreed to work closely considering that there are so many commonalities between India and most of the countries of Central Asia. Indian films would be screened in the SCO member-states by organizing film festivals. This already has received good response in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Overall, the message was that India would like to see very positive content in the SCO process, India is ready to contribute to that, New Delhi is ready to work with the countries of Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Some of the important outcome documents that came out of the SCO summit were the document of the Anti-Narcotic Strategy and the programme of action. Three documents which were assigned were on healthcare, on environment and on sports cooperation.
In total 14 decisions have been signed by the Council of the Heads of States. On the side-line meets, India signed some cooperation agreements between the SCO and UN specialized agencies.
A joint declaration was signed on terrorism, the principle in the SCO negotiations is of coming to a consensus on a statement. A strong statement against terrorism in a very strong language was endorsed by all the member countries of the SCO. Hence, it was a re-affirmation of the strong stance of the SCO on terrorism.
The roadmap for the next summit was also drawn up. The baton has passed on to Russia which has already informed that the next Summit will have around 90 events during the Summit of the Council of Heads of State. President Putin had in his speech at Bishkek highlighted that Moscow would focus on areas like cyber-terrorism, which is an important area, cooperation in IT and digitization as well as of marking 75 years of the Second World War celebrations. India is committed for a peaceful, developed and terror-free world, which is one of the main pillars of the SCO.
Script: Dr. Rupa Narayan Das, Strategic Analyst on Chinese Affairs
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