New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs has confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Uzbekistan on September 15-16 at the invitation of President Shakaith Mirziyoyev.
He will attend the SCO Summit in Samarkand and mr Modi will also have bilateral meetings with some leaders on the sidelines of the summit. However, no further information has been given about this yet.
Leaders of eight SCO member countries will participate in the SCO summit, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Iran President Ebrahim Raisi.
Prior to this meeting, the circumstances have taken a turn in which Modi is likely to have bilateral meetings with Jinping and Shahbaz Sharif.
According to Iranian media reports, Modi is likely to meet Iran’s new president Ebrahim Raisi.
Significant progress has been made towards restoration of the April 2020 situation following the Chinese troops’ withdrawal from the Gogra Hot Spring area in eastern Ladakh just before the SCO summit.
On Monday, the armies of both countries have to complete the withdrawal process. There are some issues left in Pengang Tso, which also have positive signs of resolution.
However, the standoff between the Indo-China armies at Depsang, Demchok and Daulatbeg Oldie dates back to April 2020. India had put a condition for restoration of pre-April 2020 status quo ante along the border for progress in bilateral relations with China. The progress at Gogra Hotspring has created a conducive atmosphere for the leaders of India and China to meet.
Acknowledging that the basis of talks between Modi and Xi Jinping has been the cornerstone of the talks, the sources said the continuous diplomatic and military commander-level talks between India and China are gradually reducing the acrimony in the atmosphere. After the armies withdrew from the attacking posture face to face, now there is hope of the two countries to start talks on reducing the number of 50-50.
Similarly, due to the recent severe floods in Pakistan, not only Pakistan has suffered severe losses but also projects invested by China in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have suffered losses worth billions of dollars.