NEW DELHI — India said Sunday that Prime
Minister
Narendra Modi will take part in a regional summit in Uzbekistan that
according to Russia will see face-to-face talks between Vladimir Putin and
Chinese President Xi Jinping.
اضافة اعلان
The gathering of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) comprising China, Russia, four Central Asian countries —
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan — India and Pakistan is due
to take place in Samarkand on September 15 and 16.
On Wednesday Russia’s ambassador to China said that
Putin and Xi would meet at the summit, in what will be the Chinese leader’s
first trip abroad since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Beijing’s foreign ministry did not immediately
confirm the meeting, with a spokesperson saying at a regular press briefing
that “there is no information to provide” on the matter.
The Indian government statement on Sunday did not
say whether Modi would hold bilateral talks with Putin, Xi or — for the first
time since he became Pakistani prime minister in April — Shehbaz Sharif.
Sourcing most of its arms from Russia, India like
China has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and has ramped up
purchases of Russian oil.
India’s relations with China have been frosty since
fighting in 2020 on their disputed Himalayan border left at least 20 Indian and
four Chinese soldiers dead. Modi and
Xi have not held bilateral talks since
2019.
India is also part of the so-called Quad together
with the US, Japan, and Australia, a grouping seen as a bulwark against China.
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