Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday begin a four-day visit to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan , where he will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit and hold a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin .
Details of other meetings will be announced once they are finalised. Modi will visit Uzbekistan from August 29 to 30 at President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s invitation before travelling to Bishkek on August 31 for the SCO Summit. The meeting with Putin will be among several bilateral engagements Modi will hold on the margins of the summit, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday.
The SCO Summit, which will mark 25 years of the grouping, is expected to focus on the evolving security scenario in the region, the ministry said. Chinese President Xi Jinping , Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are among the leaders expected to attend the summit. In Uzbekistan, which Modi is visiting for the fourth time, he will hold talks with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership.
“A meeting is scheduled between both the leaders of India and Russia on the sidelines of the summit,” secretary (West) Sibi George said at a media briefing. George said the two leaders were expected to review the entire gamut of the India-Russia relationship. During his address at the summit, Modi will highlight India’s priorities such as security, connectivity and opportunity, the ministry said. The two leaders will review cooperation in trade and investment, defence, digital connectivity, energy, education and people-to-people ties, the ministry said.
