“Today’s era is not of war”, PM Modi tells Putin during bilateral meeting

“Today’s era isn’t of war and I have spoken to you about it on the call. Today we’ll get the opportunity to talk about how can we progress on the path of peace. India-Russia has stayed together with each other for several decades,” the Prime Minister said.

“We spoke on the phone several times about India-Russia bilateral relations and also on various issues. We should find ways to address the problems of food, fuel security and fertilizers. I want to thank Russia & Ukraine for helping us to evacuate our students from Ukraine,” he added.

The Russian President acknowledged in his speech that he is aware of India’s stance and worries regarding the conflict in Ukraine.

In February of this year, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine.

While India will take over as the SCO’s next chair in 2022, the present head of the SCO is Uzbekistan.

During the meeting of the expanded circle of the Heads of SCO, Presidents Putin and Xi Jinping of China congratulated India on assuming the SCO Presidency in 2023.

This is the first SCO Summit to take place in person since the Covid pandemic hit the globe. In June 2019, the SCO Heads of State Summit took place for the final time in person in Bishkek.

Currently, the SCO consists of eight Member States (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), four Observer States (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia), and six “Dialogue Partners” (Armenia, Azerbaijan,Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey).

The Shanghai Five, which were established in 1996, evolved into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2001 when Uzbekistan was added. With the addition of India and Pakistan in 2017 and the choice to accept Tehran as a full member in 2021, the SCO grew to become one of the biggest multilateral organisations, representing close to 30% of the global GDP and 40% of the world’s population.