Panaji: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met Uzbekistan counterpart Bakhtiyor Saidov on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers meeting here on Thursday and expressed confidence that the bilateral partnership will continue to grow in different domains.
During the meeting, Jaishankar appreciated Uzbekistan’s strong support for India’s SCO presidency.
“Welcomed FM Bakhtiyor Saidov of Uzbekistan on his first visit to India in this capacity. Appreciated Uzbekistan’s strong support for India’s SCO presidency. Also recognized our long-standing multilateral cooperation. Confident our bilateral partnership in different domains will continue to grow,” Jaishankar said in a tweet.
Earlier in the day, Jaishankar held separate meetings with his counterparts from Russia and China. He also held a meeting with SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming and appreciated his “support for India’s SCO Presidency”.
During the meeting, Jaishankar and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reviewed bilateral, global and multilateral cooperation between the two countries. The two leaders discussed issues pertaining to G20 and BRICS.
“Comprehensive review of our bilateral, global and multilateral cooperation with FM Sergey Lavrov of Russia. Appreciated Russia’s support for India’s SCO presidency. Also discussed issues pertaining to G20 and BRICS,” Jaishankar said in a tweet.
The focus during Jaishankar’s meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang was on resolving outstanding issues and ensuring peace in the border areas.
“A detailed discussion with the State Councillor and FM Qin Gang of China on our bilateral relationship. Focus remains on resolving outstanding issues and ensuring peace and tranquillity in the border areas. Also discussed SCO, G20 and BRICS,” Jaishankar said in a tweet.
The theme of India’s Chairmanship of SCO in 2023 is ‘Secure-SCO’. India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organisation established in 2001.
India took over the rotating presidency of the SCO at the summit held in Samarkand in 2022.