“Both of us are strongly committed to taking India-China ties to new heights and increasing our economic, cultural and people-to-people relations”, Modi said. Russian Federation has been subjected to western sanctions in recent months over Ukraine.
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Following Xi’s arrival in Ufa on Wednesday afternoon, Putin reportedly said to him, “We are clearly aware of the difficulties we face, in both the economy and global politics”.
The SCO is a political, military and economic alliance comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
On the sidelines of the summit earlier on Friday, Modi met with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the first time in more than a year. The group says Iran can join only after reaching a deal with big powers on its nuclear program.
Welcoming Pakistan into the SCO, Xi said: “China is willing to maintain close cooperation with Pakistan within the SCO framework”.
During the course of their 95-minute meeting ahead of the BRICS and SCO summit in the Russian city of Ufa, the two leaders also discussed border issues and the need to accelerate the boundary talks process.
Putin opened the annual summit by announcing the acceptance of India and Pakistan as members.
“In particular, in Eurasia, where crises occur on a regular basis, the organisation has already turned out to be a stabilising factor in the region”, it said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ufa, Russia, July 8, 2015.
“India will be pleased to contribute to the development of infrastructure in the region”, he said. However, China is anxious that the differences between India and Pakistan can cloud the agenda of SCO.
“In this regard, national and regional security and confronting terrorism and extremism are the most important areas of modern cooperation”, he added.
In particular, Putin called on the SCO to promptly start the implementation of the 2016-2018 cooperation agreement on the fight against terrorism and separatism.
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The prime minister said India would deepen its engagement with SCO member-states in human resource development, information and communication technology, pharmaceuticals and health, banking and capital markets, micro- small and medium enterprises (MSME), micro-finance and food security.
