The summit hosted by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is expected to include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Central Asian leaders and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The sources cited the upcoming Parliament session, which will run from June 24 to July 3, as the reason for Mr. Modi’s decision.
Mr. Modi had visited Kazakhstan to attend the SCO Summit in 2017, but the setting has become more troublesome for New Delhi over the past few years.
Although Mr. Modi met with President Putin at the SCO summit in Uzbekistan that year, the conversation was overshadowed by the conflict, and Mr. Modi’s statement that “this era is not of war”.
All eyes will be on whether Mr. Modi will attend the BRICS summit in Kazan, hosted by President Putin at the end of October this year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to skip the Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to be held in Kazakhstan next month, and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is expected to officiate in his place. According to sources aware of the decision, Mr. Modi has decided not to travel to Astana for the summit to be held on July 3-4, although he had earlier confirmed his presence, and an advance security team had conducted its reconnaissance survey there.
The summit hosted by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is expected to include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Central Asian leaders and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Mr. Modi’s decision to miss the SCO Heads of State Council in Astana could also have a bearing on India’s participation in the SCO Heads of Government conference due to be held in Islamabad in “Autumn 2024”, which Pakistan would host.
When asked on Friday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal declined to confirm India’s participation in the SCO, saying that details of the visit were not yet “finalised”.
The sources cited the upcoming Parliament session, which will run from June 24 to July 3, as the reason for Mr. Modi’s decision. In addition to the Speaker’s election and the President’s address to both Houses, the Prime Minister is expected to reply to the debate on the motion of thanks to the President in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha between July 2 and 4.
The SCO, originally a Eurasian security and economic grouping promoted by Russia and China in 2001, includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, and Pakistan as full members. Iran and Belarus will be inducted this year.
Tensions with Pakistan
Mr. Modi’s absence at the SCO, despite the presence of other international leaders, is likely to raise questions over India’s commitment to the grouping that it joined just seven years ago as a full member. Mr. Modi had visited Kazakhstan to attend the SCO Summit in 2017, but the setting has become more troublesome for New Delhi over the past few years. India’s tensions with Pakistan, which also was inducted in 2017, have often been the chief irritant at the conference, with leaders of both countries taking aim at each other over the issue of terrorism.
During the COVID pandemic in 2020-2021, the SCO summits were held virtually. Since the military standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the deadly Galwan clashes of 2020, and the breakdown in ties, Mr. Modi has not met Chinese President Xi Jinping for a bilateral meeting anywhere, although he has engaged briefly with him on the sidelines of the G-20 in Indonesia in 2022 and the BRICS summit in South Africa in 2023.
Moscow ties
Since 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also made the discourse with Moscow more difficult. Although Mr. Modi met with President Putin at the SCO summit in Uzbekistan that year, the conversation was overshadowed by the conflict, and Mr. Modi’s statement that “this era is not of war”. India and Russia have not held the annual Putin-Modi summit since then, and a possible meeting when India hosted the SCO for the first time in 2023 was avoided after the government decided to hold the summit virtually, due to “scheduling difficulties”.
Earlier this month, Mr. Putin’s foreign policy aide and senior diplomat Yury Ushakov had told TASS news agency that the Russian President was looking forward to meeting Mr. Modi at the conference, which was especially important “in the light of the elections in India, which have just finished”.
If Mr. Modi misses the SCO summit in July, it will be seen in sharp contrast to his attendance at the G-7 Summit in Italy last week, where India is not a member, but was invited to the “Outreach” along with nine other countries. All eyes will be on whether Mr. Modi will attend the BRICS summit in Kazan, hosted by President Putin at the end of October this year. The grouping that India is a founding member of, will welcome five new members, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, this year.
