China project
Since India not endorsing BRI was expected, it is likely that neither India nor China will allow this disagreement to impact bilateral ties and instead focus on projects in third countries such as in Afghanistan.
Modi did not have a bilateral meeting with Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain during the summit but the two leaders did shake hands after a joint press conference of all the member states.
“They exchanged pleasantries,” an Indian official said.
Modi didn’t single out Pakistan as a source of terrorism in his speech, which, experts said, could be dictated by the fact that both countries were new members of the SCO and a direct reference would have made it diplomatically awkward for the other member nations.
It is the first time that an Indian prime minister is attending the SCO summit after India and Pakistan became f ullfledged members of the grouping that is jointly dominated by China and Russia.
The Qingdao declaration said that all member states strongly condemn terrorism in all forms and manifestations. One of the documents released was “a joint appeal by the SCO heads of member states for the prevention of radicalisation of youth, programme of cooperation in combating terrorism, separatism and extremism for the years 2019-21”, Ghanashyam said.
The declaration said that member states “…strongly condemn terrorism in all forms and manifestations.”
Modi spoke about how terrorism had affected Afghanistan, an observer country in the SCO. “Afghanistan is an unfortunate example of effect of terrorism,” he said, adding that he hoped steps towards peace taken by its President Ashraf Ghani will be respected by all other countries in the region.
Promising full cooperation for the summit a year after India joined the bloc, Modi said, “We should together set a goal for the 25th SCO Summit. We should work together as a committee. India is committed to extend full cooperation to a successful outcome of the summit.”
The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became its members last year. The SCO member countries represent around 42% of the world’s population and 20% of the global GDP. leaving anything to chance as last year on July 10, a bus carrying Amarnath yatris was attacked by militants near Batengoo in South Kashmir along the yatra route, killing seven pilgrims and injuring another 18.
The attack was a wake-up call for the security establishment that has since then tightened norms for registration of private vehicles and their movement on the route.
Militants had also targeted the yatra 15 years ago, when they opened fire on a pilgrims’ camp in Nunwan, near Pahalgam in August, 2002.
Security officials concur that militants usually do not target yatris or other tourists because it hurts Kashmir’s local economy, which may turn the local population against them. But there have been instances, though few and far between, which necessitate heightened security arrangements. “After 7.30pm, yatris need to be in the designated camps or if required they will be put up at the nearby camps of security forces,” said a South Kashmir-based security official who is involved in the security arrangements for yatra.
The government has also decided to install radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in the vehicles that will carry yatris in order to track their movement. The CRPF is doing a test run this year in this regard.
The security officials are particularly worried that as there has been a halt on operations against militants in the Valley this year, their job has become difficult.
“If not extended, the halt on operations will remain in force till Eid, which is likely to fall on June 17, and yatra is starting on June 28. Therefore, we have only a window of 11 days to check the movement of militants. We keep on getting intelligence on movement of militants since the halt has been announced but we can’t launch operations against them. If given a chance we would like to launch operations against militants during the 11-day window in order to ensure better security for yatra,” said a Srinagar-based security official. homemaker Sunita , said he focussed on the syllabus instead of trying too many things. He scored 326 marks . “Also, I worked hard for the last two years during which I concentrated on my classes, made regular notes, solved problems and cleared doubts from faculty,” he said.
The Bundi resident’s mother lived with him in Kota . His mother, he said, was a morale booster .A total of 155,158 students appeared in the exam conducted on May 20. This year, a total of 11,279 seats are being offered in the IITS and 800 supernumerary seats have been created specifically for women candidates to improve the gender balance. 18,138 students qualified the exam, out of which 2,076 are women. Seat allocation will commence from June 15. Selected students will obtain admission into undergraduate courses, which will help in obtaining a bachelors, integrated masters or bachelormaster dual degree in engineering, sciences or architecture. Aspirants can attempt JEE (Advanced) a maximum of two times in two consecutive years.