PM Modi arrives in Bishkek to strengthen India's ties with SCO nations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday arrived here in the Kyrgyz capital for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, the first multilateral engagement posts his re-election. Modi, in a statement before his two-day visit to Bishkek from June 13-14, said that on the sidelines of the SCO Summit, he also plans to meet several leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"We attach special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interaction in the region. India has actively participated in various SCO dialogue mechanisms since its full membership of SCO two years ago," he said on Wednesday. India has extended full cooperation to the chairmanship of the Kyrgyz Republic over the past year, Modi said.