Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Tashkent to a warm welcome as he kicked off a two-day visit to attend the annual summit of the SCO with an aim to expand India’s engagement with the China-dominated grouping in areas of security, defence and energy. In a special gesture, Modi was received at the Tashkent international airport by his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoev.

In the two-day summit, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will start the process of India’s accession to the grouping as a full-fledged member along with Pakistan. However, the spotlight is on Modi’s bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during which the Prime Minister is expected to seek China’s support for India’s membership at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) that controls access to sensitive nuclear technology.

Did You Know?

• SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• India, Iran and Pakistan were admitted as observers at the 2005 Astana Summit.
• The Tashkent SCO Summit in June 2010 had lifted the moratorium on new membership, paving the way for expansion of the grouping.
• Russia has been favouring permanent SCO membership for India while China pushed for induction of Pakistan.