At SCO meet, Modi and Sharif spar over transit trade access

Better regional connectivity is only possible if members give each other “full transit rights”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, referring to Pakistan’s rejection to provide access to Indian transit trading by land to Afghanistan and Central Asia, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (Afghanistan (Asia SCO) The Board of State (CHS) here on Friday. In a speech which is the opposite free from reference to the Indian regional problem about terrorism with Pakistan and about territorial sovereignty with China, Mr. Modi calls for greater cooperation in the Eurasian region, and refers to the energy and food crisis that has never happened before “arising from the twin issues of Pandemi Covid-19 and Ukraine conflicts. He also focused on the initiative of manufacturing that India was willing to drive next year, when India assumed SCO Chair and hosted the Summit in mid -20123.

“SCO has an important role in developing reliable, tough and diverse supply chains. For this, better connectivity is needed, but along with that, it is also important that we give each other full transit rights, “said Mr. Modi, speaking at the SCO plenary session which also marked the first time he shared a forum in a forum with Chinese President Xi Jinping since 2020 LAC Standoff, as well as with Pakistan’s new prime minister Shehbaz Sharif. While Mr. Modi did not exchange words with Mr. Sharif or Mr. Xi in the public broadcast session, he stood next to Mr. Xi, host of President Uzbek Mirziyoyev and Russian President Putin for one of the photographs for SCO and observers and dialogue partners. Then, all leaders attended lunch together held by Mr. Mirziyoyev, which is closed for the media.

Speaking at the SCO meeting, Mr. Xi congratulated India for taking over the chief grouping and promising “Chinese support” to India in hosting the event next year. Significantly, both Mr. XI and Mr. Sharif refers to the problem of terrorism, and the need to collectively against “threats” and “monsters”. Briefing the media, Foreign Minister Vinay Kwatra said that the Prime Minister Modi also raised the problem of terrorism during the “limited” meeting between SCO leaders, and that all SCO countries had agreed to prepare a list of consolidated terrorist entities.

In his speech, Mr. Sharif, who focused on Afghanistan and the flood situation in Pakistan, responded to Mr. Modi, calling for a more “structured” SCO approach to connectivity in the region, added that “If there is connectivity, the right of transit will automatically come”. India has developed the Iranian Chalang Port as an alternative for Pakistan for land routes to Central Asia and Russia. At present, delay by Pakistan means that even India’s plan to send 50,000 MT wheat to Afghanistan by the land route has not been completed for several months, because the permit for the last stage of 10,000 MT to be transported has not been given.

The Declaration of the SCO Summit ended with the expansion of eight countries, including four states of Central Asia, China, Russia, India and Pakistan, inaugurated Iran as a full member, as President of Ebrahim Raisi signed a member of the MoU who accelerated. Among the other prospective membership is Belarus, showing that grouping will have more countries facing Western sanctions in the future. The group also adopted more than 40 documents, including agreements on good cooperation and neighbors, and joint statements about climate change. MR Modi said that among the other problems faced by the world was to ensure “food security”, a problem mentioned by Mirziyoyev in his opening remarks, showing SCO countries were the majority of world seed exporting countries.

SCO member countries contribute around 30% of global GDP, and 40% of the world’s population also lives in SCO countries, “said Mr. Modi in his speech, adding that one possible solution for this problem is to promote” cultivation and consumption Millet “. MR Modi said that India was being developed as a “manufacturing center” and would be one of the fastest growth economies, and offered to share state experiences in innovation, start-up, health tourism, and traditional medicine. 

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