Putin thanks PM Modi for organising SCO summit

Addressing the Council of Heads of States summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) virtually, Russian President Vladimir Putin today thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for organising this Summit and lauded the work India has done under its presidency.

He said, "I would like to thank PM Modi for organising this Summit. The implementation of a lot of documents and the decisions that were prepared for this Summit is going to enhance the strategic partnership with India," adding that Russia supports the New Delhi declaration which gives a consolidated approach to international issues.

"Russia supports the New Delhi declaration which gives a consolidated approach to international issues. We will continue to strengthen ties with SCO member states," Putin said.

Speaking further, Putin also mentioned Ukraine and noted that, for quite a while, external forces had been carrying out a project aimed at transforming Ukraine into "a hostile state; the anti-Russia."

"In fact, there is a hybrid war being waged against us, which involves illegal sanctions on Russia that are unprecedented in scale. I would like to point out that Russia has been and will continue to confidently counter external pressure, sanctions and provocative incitements," the Russian head of state emphasized.

He added that, for quite a while, external forces had been carrying out a project aimed at transforming Ukraine into "a hostile state; the anti-Russia," President Vladimir Putin said at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), according to the Russian news agency, TASS.

"For eight years, they pumped it [Ukraine] full of weapons, condoned aggression against the peaceful population of Donbas, and turned a blind eye to the enforced propagation of neo-Nazi ideas. And all of this was being done to put the security of Russia under threat and put a check on the development of our country," Putin pointed out during the Summit.

He also added by saying, "Another focus of the SCO is the current situation in Afghanistan. The situation that regrettably is not becoming better. The SCO's priority must be counter-terrorism, counter radicalism, extremism and to counter drug trafficking."

The SCO summit, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, concluded with the virtual participation of the heads of state from all SCO nations.

India assumed the rotating chairmanship of the SCO at the Samarkand Summit of SCO on September 16 last year. The theme of India's Chairmanship of SCO in 2023 is 'SECURE-SCO'. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and China's President Xi Jinping were among others who participated in the summit.