SCO Summit: PM Modi said India supports mutual trust and cooperation among SCO countries.
Member states should grant each other transit rights to ensure better connectivity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while addressing the 22nd regional summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan today. He said better connectivity is needed in the regional grouping as there was a global food and energy crisis after global supply chains were affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. He also said India's economy is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent this year, "which will be highest among world's major economies".
"The SCO needs to focus on bringing diversified and resilient supply chains...for this, better connectivity and access to transit is required," PM Modi said, adding that India supports mutual trust and cooperation among SCO countries.
The PM said the innovative use of technology is being focused on in our people-centric development model, and India is ready to collaborate with SCO nations.
"We are working towards transforming India into a manufacturing hub...We are supporting innovation in every sector. Today there are more than 70,000 start-ups and over 100 unicorns in our country," he said.
On tackling the challenges of food security, he spoke of India's efforts to encourage the farming and consumption of millets as a traditional, nutritious, and budget friendly alternative. "Millets is a superfood that has been grown in not just SCO states, but various parts of the world, for thousands of years," he said.
He also appealed for collaboration on traditional medicine. "India is one of the most economical countries in the world for medical and wellness tourism... We should enhance cooperation between SCO countries for traditional medicine," he said.
PM Modi later summarised his five-minute remark in a tweet along with pictures from the summit,
"At the SCO Summit in Samarkand, emphasised on the constructive role SCO can play in the post-COVID era particularly in furthering economic recovery and strengthening supply chains. Highlighted India's emphasis on people-centric growth which also gives importance to technology," he said.
"At the SCO Summit, also emphasised on tackling the challenge of food security. In this context, also talked about India's efforts to further popularise millets. SCO can play a big role in marking 2023 as International Year of Millets," he added in another tweet.