SCO Summit in China: President Xi accepts PM Modi's invitation for Wuhan-like informal summit in India in 2019

Follow us on

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met Chinese President Xi Jinping soon after his arrival in Qingdao, where the two leaders are to take stock of the progress in the implementation of decisions they had taken at their first informal summit in Wuhan. 

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit here which will explore concrete ways to bolster cooperation in the fight against terrorism, extremism and radicalisation besides deliberating on pressing global issues. 

This is PM Modi's second China tour within a month. He was in the Chinese city of Wuhan on April 27 and 28 to attend an informal summit with President Xi Jinping. 

Describing his latest China visit as a new beginning for India, PM Modi said he was excited to lead the Indian delegation for their first-ever meeting of the Council as a full member. 

"The SCO has a rich agenda for cooperation, ranging from fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism to promoting cooperation in connectivity, commerce, customs, law, health and agriculture; protecting the environment and mitigating disaster risk, and fostering people-to-people relations," Prime Minister Modi said in a Facebook post before emplning for the the neighbouring country for the two-day tour.

This will be India's first participation in the summit as a full-time member of the organisation. India, along with Pakistan, became the full-time member during Astana summit in June 2017.

The SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation that focuses on strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states and promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, and making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region.

As It Happened:

08:12pm: New people to people mechanism will be set up. On Indian side, it will be headed by Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and on Chinese side, it'll be headed by Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The first meeting of this mechanism will be held this year: Vijay Gokhale

08:00pm: It was a substantive meeting, President Xi Jinping began by making positive assessment of Wuhan summit.He described it as 'a new starting point' in our bilateral relations. PM described it as 'milestone in our relations':  Vijay Gokhale  

07:55pm: President Xi accepts PM Modi's invitation for Wuhan-like informal summit in India in 2019, says Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale

4:50pm: PM Narendra Modi met President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and held a bilateral meeting with him on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China's Qingdao.

3:58 pm: PM Modi meets China President Xi Jinping in Qingdao.

3:21 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Rashid Alimov, Secretary-General Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

2:12 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at Hotel Le Meridien in China's Qingdao. 

2:05 pm: Both PM Modi and Xi Jinping are expected to hold bilateral talks, after the 'ice-breaking' Wuhan Summit. 

2:00 pm: On the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Qingdao, PM Modi would be meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping.

1:17 pm: PM Modi reaches Qingdao in China to attend SCO Summit.