Prime Minister Narendra Modi will share the platform with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting on Tuesday for the first time after the deadly Galwan valley clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Two Indian soldiers, including a commanding officer, were killed in clashes with troops of the People's Liberation Army in Galwan valley in Ladakh along the LAC in June this year. As many as 40 Chinese soldiers are believed to have been killed in violent clashes.
SCO Council of Heads of State meeting to be held virtual
The 20th SCO Council of Heads of State will be held in video conference format which will see the participation of its chair and Russian President Vladimir Putin, PM Modi, China's Xi, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, and premiers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Apart from the 8 Member States, the Heads of State of 4 Observer States of SCO – Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia will also participate.
"Each member State will be speaking for 10 minutes. The Secretary-General of SCO and the Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-terrorist Structure (SCO RATS) will also make their interventions," government sources said on Monday.
India became an observer of SCO in 2005 and was granted the status of a member State in 2017. It will be the third meeting in which India will be participating as full members.
COVID-19, counter-terrorism to be in focus
The SCO Summit of Heads of State is the main body of the organization that sets forth the agenda and the main directions for the organization for the next year. It deals with all the main areas of the activity of the organization including political, security, trade, economic and cultural.
Every annual meeting of SCO Heads of State ends with a Summit Declaration, which contains the joint position of Member States on issues of global and regional significance. This year, the 10 November Summit will end with the adoption of the Moscow Declaration under the Chairmanship of the Russian Federation.
"Apart from the Moscow Declaration, there will be SCO Statements on issues like the Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of World War II, Digital Economy, COVID-19, Countering the Spread of Terrorism Including on the Internet and Countering the Drug Threat. There will also be other decisions relating to major projects and initiatives in the trade and economic sphere of activities," the government sources said.
Modi, Imran, Xi on one platform
At the SCO meeting on Tuesday, PM Modi and President Xi will be together 3 times this month, first at the SCO heads of state virtual summit, BRICS virtual summit on 17th November, and then the G20 virtual summit on November 21 and 22, according to Wion.
Notably, PM Modi and the Pakistani PM will also be sharing the platform at the meeting. Tension prevails between India and Pakistan since the Pulwama attack and subsequent Blakot attack in February last year. PM Modi and Imran Khan were together at the UNGA dinner and lunch last year in New York but didn't meet due to prevailing tension.
