Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the historical city Samarkand in Uzbekistan on September 15 and 16 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit amidst the continuation of the Ukraine war and the persisting misunderstanding between India and China over border issues. This will be the first in-person summit since 2019 of the eight world leaders including Russia, China, India, and Pakistan. The Beijing-headquartered SCO is an 8-member economic and security grouping consisting of China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Though the SCO started functioning in 2001, India and Pakistan became members only in 2017. The last 2021 summit at Dushanbe, conducted in a hybrid mode declared that the SCO believes “in principles of mutual respect for independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, equality and mutual benefit, peaceful settlement of possible disputes through dialogue and mutual consultation, non-interference in internal affairs, non-use of military force or threat of force, rejection of unilateral military superiority in adjoining areas”.
Right now, President Putin is not in a comfortable position in terms of both the economic strength of the country and also acceptability to the majority of the population in the country. The western sanctions against Russia have not been able to damage the economy the way the west expected earlier. But the continuing war is impacting the living standards of the Russian people just as the western citizens, especially Britain and Germany are going to have a terrible winter this year because of high energy prices due to Russian actions. It is a no-win situation in the Ukraine war with more and more deaths and destruction with every passing day. As regards Chinese President Xi Jinping, he is attending the SCO meeting just one month before the Congress of the Chinese Communist Party which begins on October 16 this year. He is modelling himself on the lines of Mao Zedong planning to present to Congress his own ‘historic program’ which will transform China into the biggest economy in the world surpassing the USA after two decades. Xi also proposes to remain in his position for the third term to oversee the transition of Chinese society and economy to his desired direction.
While at the two-day meeting, India will certainly discuss bilateral issues of interest with other member nations, the member nations must underline the need for immediate starting of effective negotiations for ending the war in Ukraine. The end of deaths and devastations is in the interest of all the eight member nations. India is the most prominent member of the SCO having good relations with both the USA and Russia. India is still the largest democracy in the world, despite the Modi Government’s efforts to undermine its institutions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a voice that commands respect among nations due to the geo-political importance of India. The Indian Prime Minister has to play that role at this Samarkand summit. President Putin has been talking about a meeting between Russia, China, and India for some days. India and Russia are maintaining excellent relations. India and China have to improve the same and Russia can help a lot.
