India, Pakistan to join China security bloc

Astana: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday underlined the common Islamic heritage of both India and Central Asia which has always rejected the forces of extremism and strongly pitched for enhanced defence and security cooperation between the two to combat terrorism.

Apart from Russian Federation and China, the SCO now has four Central Asian nations – Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – as its members.

India and Pakistan will start the process of joining the SCO, Chen said.

Indian government sources had subsequently said that they were “confident” of getting the membership of the body. In September 2014, Pakistan and India formally applied to join the alliance.Nawaz said that media speculations regarding possible threats of Pakistan’s nuclear programme materials leaking into the hands of terrorist groups are absurd and malicious. The observer countries would be India, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Mongolia while the Shanghai cooperation would include China, Russian Federation and the ex- Soviet republics of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. But a full-fledged “pull-aside” meeting on the sidelines is also very likely.

Cheng said the summit, to be attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, would also discuss security in Afghanistan. Modi is also expected to meet Xi and discuss the bilateral ties, amid India’s unhappiness over Beijing constructing an economic corridor with Pakistan passing through PoK. Pakistan too is set to be a member, so that neuters India’s voice. New Delhi will likely play a delicate balancing act over the next few years, as it tries to keep all its partners happy.

The BRICS countries finalized setting up of the NDB at the group’s summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, last year. Noted Indian banker K V Kamath has been named as the first head of the bank.

The five member countries will cooperate on different projects through investing in the bank, he said. Modi is leading a business delegation of around 30 entrepreneurs, including SME executives. The two countries also helped evacuate each other’s nationals from Yemen.