Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet Jinping ahead of SCO summit

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in a bilateral meeting on June 9 ahead of his participation in the “18th meeting of the Council of heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)” at Qingdao in the Shandong province of China, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.

However, sources said there is no possibility of any bilateral meeting between PM Modi and Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain who is expected to represent Islamabad at the meet. Pakistan, incidentally, is already in the midst of its electoral process.

Sources also said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has conveyed to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in South Africa the Chinese appreciation for PM Modi's recent address at the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore. Both foreign ministers were in South Africa for a BRICS meeting.

The bilateral meeting between PM Modi and President Xi comes on the heels of their informal summit in the central Chinese city of Wuhan which had put Sino-Indian ties firmly back on track after the Doklam setback last year. A discussion on regional and international issues is expected to take place at the SCO meeting. The MEA highlighted the importance of peace and security as well as the fight against terrorism in the region. The MEA also referred to the various connectivity projects in the neighbourhood that New Delhi is supporting, even as India continues to oppose the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative of China. In response to a question, the MEA also referred to the SCO objectives in the fields of politics, security, economy and culture.

The main SCO meeting will be held on June 10. The MEA described the SCO  as a “grouping of central Asian countries”, making it clear--in response to another question--that SCO cannot be seen as an alternative to SAARC (which is a south Asian grouping).