Modi to talk with Xi, Putin at SCO

issue of terror emanating from Pakistani soil or territory controlled by it due to the multilateral nature of SCO.

Apart from separate bilateral meetings with the Chinese and Russian Presidents, India has also got a request for a bilateral meeting with at least one more SCO member MEA officials didn’t name. MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar only reiterated that there would be no bilateral meeting between the Indian and Pakistani PMs on the sidelines of the SCO conference. Pakistan PM Imran Khan had recently written reportedly to Mr Modi while Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had written to new external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, suggesting a dialogue between the two neighbours.

In Beijing, meanwhile, the Chinese foreign ministry said President Xi and Prime Minister Modi, “who are good friends”, may discuss their respective trade frictions with the United States and reach a consensus on opposing trade protectionism in their “very important” meeting this week on SCO’s sidelines, a PTI report adds.

President Xi had congratulated Mr Modi on his re-election through a letter on May 23. “Once again we congratulate PM Modi. President Xi and

Prime Minister Modi are good friends. They had a very successful informal summit at Wuhan last year,” Chinese vice foreign minister Zhang Hanhui told a media briefing, answering a question on the Modi-Xi meeting.

When asked about the meeting between the two leaders on the SCO’s sidelines, Mr Zhang said: “While details for the meeting are under discussion, I believe every bilateral meeting between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi is very important. From the Chinese side, we will make good preparations for the success of the

bilateral meeting.” He also said the China-US trade war and the “spectre” of emerging trade frictions between the US and India could be an important part of discussions between the two leaders. “Whether they will talk about trade fictions between China and the US and the spectre of trade frictions between the US and India, such things are not surprising. I believe this could become an important topic in his bilateral meetings with the related leaders,” he said.