In a stern warning to China and Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, at the 20th summit of SCO Council of Heads of State which was held virtually.
Here are ten points about the Prime Minister's address at the virtual SCO meeting where premiers of other seven SCO members were also present:
1. Addressing the meeting, Prime Minister Modi said, "India has strong cultural and historical ties with SCO countries... India believes that to enhance connectivity it is important that we move forward while respecting each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity".
2. With Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan looking, PM Modi said that India has been closely sticking to the charter of the SCO and raised concerns over attempts to bring in bilateral issues into the agenda.
3. "It is unfortunate that there are unnecessary attempts to bring bilateral issues in the SCO agenda, which is in violation of SCO Charter and Shanghai spirit," the Prime Minister said.
4. Modi told the SCO members that India will use its vaccine production and distribution capacity to help the world fight against Covid-19 pandemic. "In this very difficult time, India's pharma industry has sent essential medicines to more than 150 countries. As the world's largest vaccine producing country, India will use its vaccine production and distribution capacity to help the whole humanity in fighting this crisis," he said.
5. Pushing for reforms in the United Nations (UN), Modi said, "The United Nations has completed its 75 years. But despite many successes, its basic goal is still incomplete. The world, which is suffering from the economic and social suffering of the epidemic, is expected to bring about a complete change in the system of the UN".
6. He further said, "A reformed multilateralism that will reflect today's global realities and discuss topics such as expectations of all stakeholders, contemporary challenges, and human welfare. We expect full support from SCO member nations in this endeavour".
7. SCO is a regional grouping of eight nations -- India, Pakistan, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan -- that primarily focuses on security and defence issues.
8. India became an observer of SCO in 2005 and was granted the status of a member State in 2017. It was the third meeting in which India participated as full members.
9. 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.
10. 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 ended with the adoption of the Moscow Declaration under the Chairmanship of the Russian Federation.
