Uzbekistan's Samarkand gears up for Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit
Sep 14, 2022
Samarkand [Uzbekistan], September 14 : The city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan is all geared up for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend on September 15 and 16.
PM Modi is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin during the meeting here in Samarkand. 
As per sources, PM Modi is likely to have bilateral meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Samarkand.
"PM Modi's bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev are almost fixed and the meetings will take place on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Samarkand," a source told ANI.
The Indian Ambassador to Uzbekistan Manish Prabhat had said earlier that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend the summit and hold bilateral meetings with several leaders.
"Leaders of SCO member countries are meeting after two years due to the COVID pandemic. Some bilateral meetings will take place on the sidelines of the SCO. Still, the programme of the meetings will be finalised in due course," Ambassador Prabhat had told ANI in an exclusive interview.
"Economic cooperation in the SCO is an important question, which will be discussed in the meetings. When we are meeting with central Asian countries, we discuss connectivity which will promote trade, investment and other exchanges between Indian and central Asian countries," he told ANI.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi are also expected to attend the summit. Uzbekistan is the chair of SCO 2022. India will be the next chair of the SCO.
