New Delhi. Prime Minister participated virtually in the 21st Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), and through video-message in the Joint SCO-CSTO Outreach Session on Afghanistan.
The 21st meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State was held today in Dushanbe in hybrid format.
Meeting was chaired by Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan, an official release said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Summit via video-link. At Dushanbe, India was represented by External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar.
In his address, Prime Minister highlighted the problems caused by growing radicalisation and extremism in the broader SCO region, which runs counter to the history of the region as a bastion of moderate and progressive cultures and values.
Narendra Modi noted that recent developments in Afghanistan could further exacerbate this trend towards extremism.
Prime Minister suggested that SCO could work on an agenda to promote moderation and scientific and rational thought, which would be especially relevant for the youth of the region.
Narendra Modi also spoke about India’s experience of using digital technologies in its development programmes, and offered to share these open-source solutions with other SCO members.
While speaking about the importance of building connectivity in the region, Prime Minister stressed that connectivity projects should be transparent, participatory and consultative, in order to promote mutual trust.
