PM Modi to hold bilateral meets with Xi Jinping, Putin at SCO meet

The Ministry of External Affairs in a briefing on Monday confirmed that PM Modi will hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the SCO summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, one with Russian President Vladimir Putin and another with Kyrgyzstan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to take on a two-day visit to the Kyrgyz capital from June 13, for his first multilateral engagement, the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), after taking the office for the second term.

However, answering to a question on any bilateral talks planned with Pakistan, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, “To the best of my knowledge, no bilateral meeting is being planned between Indian and Pakistan prime ministers at the SCO summit in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek.”

“I can’t say whether the PM will raise the issue of Pakistan blocking air connectivity at SCO,” said Raveesh Kumar regarding the issue of airspace shutdown.

There are reports that India has sought permission for the landing of PM Modi’s flight on June 13 and Islamabad cleared it.

Meanwhile, China on Monday released a statement saying that it “hopes” that President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi will discuss their respective trade frictions with the U.S. and the two good friends could reach a consensus on opposing trade protectionism during their very important meeting during the SCO summit in Bishkek this week.

Also, External affairs minister S Jaishankar will represent India at Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) meet in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, on June 15, officials said.

The MEA also announced that a business summit between industry association Ficci and its Kyrgyz counterpart may take place on June 14, along with a textile exhibition on the colours and weaves of India.