Putin supports early accession of Belarus to the SCO

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has become an important platform for peace, prosperity and development in the entire Eurasian region in the past 20 years. He said India views the SCO as an extended family.

In his virtual address at the 23rd Summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State on Tuesday, 4 July, Modi said that several new platforms such as the Young Scientist Conclave, Authors Conclave, Startup Forum, and Youth Council have been organised to tap the talents of young people from SCO countries.

"Over the past two decades, the SCO has become an important platform for peace, prosperity and development across the Eurasia region. India's thousands of years of cultural and people-to-people ties with the region are living testimony to our common heritage"

Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India

Prime Minister Modi chaired the SCO meeting. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and other leaders also took part in the event.

The Prime Minister said India is making efforts to take multilateral cooperation with the SCO to new heights, as reported by ANI, a partner of TV BRICS.

Modi said that security, economic development, connectivity, unity, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and environmental protection were the pillars of India's SCO vision.

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to follow the right direction and strengthen solidarity and mutual trust. The Chinese government is in favour of increasing the share of national currencies in trade settlements between the countries of the association. Xi made the remarks while attending the SCO summit via video link.

"We need to step up cooperation on sovereign digital currencies, work on the establishment of the SCO Development Bank"

Xi Jinping President of China

The Chinese leader added that China is ready to give its partners access to its market and share development experience.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said for his part that the SCO was playing an increasingly important role in international affairs, making a real contribution to peace and stability and ensuring the sustainable economic growth of its member states.

"The implementation of the solid package of documents and decisions, which have been prepared for the current SCO Council of Heads of State, will undoubtedly make a weighty contribution to strengthening the strategic partnership within the SCO framework"

Vladimir Putin President of Russia

The Head of State also spoke in favour of expeditious completion of the accession process of Belarus to the SCO.

Photo: screenshot of the live broadcast on the official website of the Russian president