PM Narendra Modi departs for 22nd SCO Summit in Uzbekistan, to hold bilateral talks with Russia`s Vladimir Putin

Samarkand: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday left for Samarkand in Uzbekistan to attend the 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Member States (SCO-COHS) summit on Sept 15-16. The SCO summit will also see the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iran's Ebrahim Raisi, among other top world leaders. The Prime Minister is visiting Uzbekistan at the invitation of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said, "Leaving for Samarkand, Uzbekistan to attend the SCO Summit, which will witness the exchange of views on a wide range of regional and global issues"

PM Modi will attend the summit on Friday. He is expected to have bilateral meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Samarkand.

PM Modi will review the activities of SCO and discuss prospects for future cooperation. "At the SCO Summit, I look forward to exchanging views on topical, regional and international issues, the expansion of SCO and on further deepening of multifaceted and mutually beneficial cooperation within the Organization," read Prime Minister's Office departure statement ahead of his visit to Uzbekistan.

The 22nd Summit has hogged much limelight due to the ongoing turbulence in geopolitics, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and tensions over Taiwan. The SCO Summit is taking place at a time when there are sharp differences between the West, China and Russia on the issues of sovereignty, democracy, human rights and economic sanctions, to name a few, and the prevailing flux on who is with whom.

India is well-placed to be a neutral arbiter among the highly-divided factions in the emerging global order because it has always fielded for the common good, rather than partisan strategic objectives.

(With agency inputs)