Member States must respect each other’s territorial integrity, says PM
With situation remaining tense at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asserted that all member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) should respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. This message was obviously directed towards China and Pakistan, who are members of the SCO.
This was the first time Modi came face-to-face with Chinese President Xi Jingping in a virtual meeting of the SCO since the face-off started in early May. Modi’s remarks also came against the backdrop of Islamabad’s attempts to internationalise the Kashmir issue and its continued support to cross-border terrorism in India.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was also present among the heads of Governments attending the summit, chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi and Xi Jingping had taken part in a virtual session of the UN General Assembly in September. They addressed the UN on different dates.
Referring to India’s participation in strengthening connectivity among nations, Modi said,” India believes that to enhance connectivity it is important that we move forward while respecting one another’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
His statement is important as China is backing a 3,000-km-long infrastructure project, the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC, which connects Kashgar in western China with Gwadar port in Pakistan and passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK). India has all along protested against China’s CPEC push as the corridor passes through PoK.
In his address, Modi also hit out at those making repeated attempts to “unnecessarily” bring bilateral issues to the SCO in violation of the grouping’s foundational principles. It was in obvious reference to Pakistan.
India has always been resolute in working in sync with principles laid out in the SCO charter. But it is unfortunate that there have been repeated efforts to unnecessarily bring bilateral issues in the SCO agenda which is in violation of the SCO spirit,” Modi said.
Referring to the fight against COVID-19 pandemic , Modi said India will use its capacity in production and distribution of vaccines to help the entire humanity in fighting the pandemic. In this difficult time of unprecedented epidemic, India’s pharma industry sent essential medicines to over 150 countries, he said.
The Prime Minister made these observations while virtually addressing the 20th summit of SCO Council of Heads of State. Ever since India became a full member of the SCO?Council of Heads and State in 2017, Modi has been leading the Indian delegation to the annual summit. However, this is the first time that the annual meeting was held virtually due to the pandemic.
During the ten -minute speech, the Prime Minister further highlighted India’s strong opposition against terrorism and drug smuggling. “India strongly believes in peace, security and prosperity, and we have always voiced opposition to terrorism, illegal arms smuggling, drugs and money laundering. India has remained firm in its commitment to work under the SCO as per the principles laid down in the SCO Charter,” he said.
Calling for a “reformed multilateralism” that reflects today’s global realities, the Prime Minister suggested that countries also discuss topics such as “expectations of all stakeholders, contemporary challenges, and human welfare. We expect full support from SCO member nations in this endeavour.”
The SCO Summit sets the agenda and main directions for the next year. The virtual meeting on Tuesday was attended by the eight SCO?members, including Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Russian President Vladimir Putin chaired the virtual meeting on Tuesday and each country was allotted 10 minutes to speak.
With the logjam persisting at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh for the last six months despite repeated military and diplomatic level talks, India and China have repeatedly reaffirmed that dialogue is the way out to disengagement and de-escalation. In September, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sideline of the SCO foreign ministers conclave in Moscow.
The two leaders laid out five-point action plan for bringing peace and tranquility at the LAC. At present, more than one lakh soldiers from both the sides are deployed at the LAC besides heavy weapons. Also, both the armies are digging in for deployment during the winter months in Ladakh.
The last SCO Summit was held at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in June 2019, where Modi held a separate bilateral meeting with President Xi. It is there that Modi invited Xi for a second round of their informal summit - the first was at Wuhan in 2018 - and it culminated in the October 2019 Mamallapuram informal summit.
Moreover, Modi and Xi will also be meeting virtually on November 13-15 for the ASEAN Summit where India has been invited especially invited by Vietnam, which is the group’s chair for this year.
The leaders are also expected to come face-to-face at two other summits - BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit, chaired by Russia, on November 17 and G-20, chaired by Saudi Arabia, on November 21-22. The heads of states of the SCO are also likely to meet again virtually on November 30 in the event hosted by India.
Incidentally, an armed forces contingent of India pulled out of the SCO military exercises three months back citing corona as the main reason. However, it was apparent India was registering its protest against China which was also participating in the drill besides Pakistan.
