Imran Khan in Attendance, PM Modi to Talk Terrorism at SCO Meet as India Slams Pak for Taliban Aid: Report

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to outline India’s concerns over terrorism in the presence of Pakistan PM Imran Khan at the SCO meeting on September 16-17.

According to an exclusive report by Times of India, Modi will not be visiting Dushanbe for the summit and will address the meeting virtually. In keeping with India’s statements on Afghanistan at UNSC and also UN Human Rights Council, Modi is unlikely to name the Taliban in his statement.

It is expected that Chinese President Xi Jinping will also be present virtually. Meanwhile, Pakistani PM Imran Khan, Russian President Putin, and other central Asian countries will be present in person.

Tajikistan is chair of the grouping which has eight member states: Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and four central Asian countries, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan.

The last two months have seen a number of meetings of SCO foreign, defence, and National security advisors meeting in Dushanbe.

The UN Security Council, under India’s Presidency had adopted a strong resolution demanding that territory of Afghanistan not be used to threaten any country or shelter terrorists and that it expects the Taliban will adhere to commitments made by it on regarding the safe and orderly departure from the country of Afghans and all foreign nationals.

This was the first resolution adopted by the powerful 15-nation Council on the situation in Afghanistan following the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban and came on the penultimate day of India’s Presidency of the Security Council for the month of August.

Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and national unity of Afghanistan, the resolution “condemns in the strongest terms the deplorable attacks” of August 26 near the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul for which the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, an entity affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh) claimed responsibility and which resulted in deaths and injuries of over 300 civilians and 28 military personnel.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Assembly Elections Live Updates here.