SCO meeting agenda on counter terrorism not aimed at “targeting” any country: China

TIL Desk/World/Beijing/ The SCO summit in Bishkek this week would discuss economy-related issues and security cooperation with a focus on counter terrorism, but it is not aimed at “targeting” any country, China said on Monday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan are attending the meeting amidst frosty Indo-Pak relations.

The 19th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will be held the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek on June 13-14. Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping would also attend the summit. Pakistan Prime Minister Khan will also take part in the meeting. The SCO is a China-led eight-member economic and security bloc.

Its founding members include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan were admitted to the Beijing-based regional security grouping in 2017.  This week’s SCO summit will be the first major international event being attended by Modi after his re-election. He would meet President Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit. India has said that no bilateral meeting has been planned between Prime Minister Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Khan on the sidelines of the SCO Summit.