Prime Minister Narendra Modi will land in Samarkand on Thursday ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit the next day and is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the host Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
While diplomatic sources said Indian and Turkish officials were in touch over the possibility of a meeting with Turkish President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan, officials have indicated that a “structured” meeting between Mr. Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping or Pakistan’s President Shahbaz Sharif was “unlikely” at present. More details of the Prime Minister’s engagements will be confirmed on Thursday morning, when Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra will brief the media ahead of the visit.
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