PM Modi underlines working together to eliminate terrorism, radicalisation during SCO Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while chairing the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting emphasised working together to eliminate the menace of terrorism in the region as well as globally.

New Delhi: In the SCO summit chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the leaders signed the New Delhi Declaration and adopted a slew of documents, among them is the SCO Economic Development Strategy 2030. Addressing a special briefing, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said, "The leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), under India’s presidency, adopted a Delhi declaration and two thematic joint statements--one on cooperation in countering the radicalisation leading to separatism, extremism and terrorism and the second one cooperation in the field of digital transformation".

"The Prime Minister underlined India's contribution to SCO, especially in the last six years, as a Member State. He highlighted the new spheres of cooperation", Kwatra said. He said that the Prime Minister underlined the need to work together to eliminate the menace of terrorism in the region and globally, in consistency with Article 1 of the SCO Charter. In particular, the SCO Heads of State Council approved the SCO Economic Development Strategy 2030.

A decision was also taken on completing the procedure for admitting Iran to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and granting it the status of an SCO member state; the Memorandum of Obligations was signed with Belarus in order to grant the status of an SCO member state; as well as the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan, was declared as the SCO Cultural and Tourism Capital in 2023–2024.

In addition, the SCO Heads of State Council approved the Concept of Cooperation between the SCO Member States to decarbonise transport and promote digital transformation as well as adopting innovative technologies to achieve greater efficiency and sustainability. The SCO Heads of State Council also took decisions on the Regulation on the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure and the signing of a Memorandum between the SCO Secretariat and the United Nations Environment Programme.

The leaders adopted resolutions on countering radicalisation leading to terrorism, separatism, and extremism, and on cooperation in digital transformation. The SCO summit was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Putin, and Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev were present at the meeting.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi, and President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh were invited to take part in the meeting as heads of the SCO observer states. President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov was invited as a guest of the presiding party. The SCO comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan is an influential economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organizations.

On September 2022, India for the first time, took over the presidency of SCO from Uzbekistan at the Samarkand Summit. The SCO heads of the Council of States summit comes at a time when India's ties with China, and Pakistan is at an all-time low.