PM Modi Arrives In China To Attend SCO Meet

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday arrived in Beijing on a two-day visit to China’s Qingdao to attend the 18^th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

“The SCO has a rich agenda for cooperation, ranging from fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism to promoting cooperation in connectivity, commerce, customs, law, health and agriculture; protecting the environment and mitigating disaster risk, and fostering people-to-people relations,” Modi said.

Last year, India became a full member of the SCO along with Pakistan. The Prime Minister is scheduled to hold a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He is also expected to hold meeting with heads of other SCO member countries.

The meeting will be held between eight member countries including India, Pakistan, China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

The member countries are expected to sign the Qingdao Declaration, which is likely to focus on terrorism.

Till 2005, India had been an observer at the SCO, and had only participated in the ministerial-level meetings.