Beijing, Sep 21 (PTI) Trade connectivity among the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries with transit rights should not be a problem unless “protectionism comes in the way” and the issue could be discussed at the next summit of the eight-member grouping in India, Deputy Secretary General of the bloc Sohail Khan has said.
“Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has emphasised and underscored the importance of transit rights and permissions for the future intra-SCO trade” at the last week’s summit of the SCO held at Samarkand in Uzbekistan last week, Khan said at a media briefing held by the Chinese Foreign Ministry here on Tuesday.
In his address at the Samarkand summit on September 16, Prime Minister Modi said: "India supports greater cooperation and mutual trust among SCO members. The pandemic and the crisis in Ukraine have caused many disruptions in global supply chains, leaving the world facing unprecedented energy and food crises." "The SCO should strive to develop reliable, resilient and diversified supply chains in our region. For this, better connectivity will be required, as well as it will also be important that we all give full rights of transit to each other," Modi said. India is due to host the next summit of the SCO in 2023.
