Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: A very good afternoon to all of you. Thank you for joining us for this special media briefing on the occasion of the SCO Summit under India's chairmanship, which is just concluded. To give us a sense of the conversation and the overall India's chairmanship of the SCO over the last year, we have the privilege of having with us Foreign Secretary Sir, Shri Vinay Kwatra. Also joining us on the dais, JS (SCO), Shrimati Yojna Patel. Sir, may I request you to make opening remarks.
Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Thank you very much and very good afternoon to friends from the media. India, under our first ever presidency of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, hosted and we just concluded the 23rd meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State earlier today. The Summit was held in the virtual format. The meeting was chaired by Honorable Prime Minister and was attended by the Presidents of Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Prime Minister of Pakistan. Heads of State of SCO Observers namely Iran, Belarus, and Mongolia and Turkmenistan participated as guest chair. Heads of two permanent standing bodies of the SCO, Secretary General of SCO and Director, SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, RATS, plus Heads of international and regional organizations including the UN Secretary General; Heads of CICA, that is Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia; CSTO, Collective Security Treaty Organization; CIS, Commonwealth of Independent States, and Eurasian Economic Commission, they also attended the meeting.
You all would have heard Honorable Prime Minister's remarks that were telecast live. To briefly capture a sense of it, Prime Minister underlined India's contribution to SCO, especially in the last six years as Member State, highlighted the new spheres of cooperation introduced and nurtured by India in the SCO, especially in the field of startup and innovation, traditional medicine, youth empowerment, digital inclusion, and shared Buddhist heritage of SCO Member States, need to work together to eliminate the menace of terrorism in the region and globally, in consistency with Article 1 of the SCO Charter, equivocally condemn terrorism and eliminate safe havens, flow of finance to such activities, fight against terrorism as the basic mandate of SCO still remains a central goal of SCO, something that was underlined and emphasized by the Honorable Prime Minister and also echoed in the room by other countries. In terms of the flow of discussions and the points that were covered by different leaders at this Summit, all of them exchanged views on the topical, regional and international issues on how to further deepen cooperation among the SCO Member States within the SCO format, the issue of what proposals should be taken up for the reform and modernization of the organization, and also the common issues concerning the region as also the organization. All the leaders welcomed the completion of procedure for Iran to join as the organization's full Member State. Prime Minister also congratulated President Raisi on this occasion. The leaders also welcomed the decision on signing the Memorandum of Obligation of Belarus to join the organization as a Member State. The process of Belarus membership will be completed by 2024 SCO Summit next year.
As the outcome of the Summit, the leaders adopted the New Delhi Declaration and two thematic joint statements – one on cooperation in countering radicalization, leading to separatism, extremism, and terrorism, and the second one on cooperation in the field of digital transformation. Besides, the leaders also signed a total of 10 decisions. Those decisions would be available to you separately. There are essentially a set of outcomes that are aimed at furthering the cooperation among the SCO Member States in order to fulfill its objectives. You would all be aware that when India assumed the presidency of SCO in September last year after the Samarkand Summit of SCO, Prime Minister Modi had articulated India's priority for the SCO Chair with the theme of ‘Towards a SECURE SCO’ – SECURE standing for Security, Economic development, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Environmental protection. It provides essentially the template of our endeavors and the action that we took under our presidency. All our initiatives and proposals that we put forward during the SCO meetings in the time frame of our presidency were essentially structured and choreographed around this core objective of SECURE SCO, and our intention to open up new areas of cooperation and intensify an engagement within the SCO was also built around it. At the India's initiative, two new mechanisms were created in SCO. We have spoken about this in the past also, namely the Special Working Group on Startups & Innovation and Expert Level Working Group on Traditional Medicine. The first meetings of these two working groups would be held towards the latter part of this year, and that would be aimed at framing cooperation among the SCO Member States in these two areas.
During our presidency, India hosted more than 134 events in the last nine months. Unprecedented level of engagement with the Dialogue Partners and Observers of SCO was also an essential component of it. There were in total, as part of our presidency, 15 Ministerial level meetings and four Heads of agency meetings across different areas, and the outcomes and decisions of those Ministerial meetings have been captured in the various outcome documents of the SCO. I would just highlight five initiatives that were proposed by India and adopted at these Ministerial level meetings under India's presidency. The first was on the concept of the development of digital public infrastructure, DPIs, for the promotion of digital technologies among the population, in particular, digital inclusion and innovation. This is something which found mention and was echoed by almost all the leaders in today's Summit proceedings. Two, on the cooperation among the SCO Member States on emerging fuels. Three, on working together to combat the challenges of climate change, plastic pollution, marine plastic litter, air pollution, with focus on resource efficiency and circular economy. Related to that, but in a more action-oriented sequence, decarbonizing the transport infrastructure, promoting digital transformation and innovative technologies, again, for efficiency and higher sustainability through cooperation among the SCO Member States. And lastly, the first ever report on digital financial inclusion policies in the SCO Member States. Besides, there was also a substantial segment of socio-cultural activities during India's presidency. This included SCO Millets Festival, I think it was in Mumbai, SCO Film Festival, SCO Culture Showcasing at Suraj Kund Mela, SCO Tourism Mart, SCO Conference on Traditional Medicine, this was in the business-to-business format. And all these initiatives and events held under India's presidency received quite remarkable and robust response from the SCO Member States.
As I just earlier on mentioned, we also organized several activities that were focused on the youth populations within the SCO countries, events like Young Scientists Conclave, Young Authors Conclave, SCO Young Resident Scholars Program, SCO Startup Forum, SCO Youth Council, SCO Conference on the Role of Youth in Community Development. The idea essentially is that you broad base the substance of cooperation among the SCO Member States, add stakeholders that are other than the government also, ensure their participation in a manner that essentially strengthens the cooperation among the SCO Member States. The colourful events in the framework of first tourist and cultural capital of SCO, at Varanasi, deserves a special mention as we showcased the civilizational heritage and the culture through Varanasi. There were several festivals which were hosted as part of these celebrations. We also hosted again, as a part of highlighting another segment of our civilizational heritage, the International Conference on Shared Buddhist Heritage in New Delhi...special chair, and I would like to mention this in particular, a special chair on the shared Buddhist heritage was also created at the Nalanda University under the Government of India arrangements. And to mark India's first-ever presidency of SCO, a commemorative stamp was also released last month in June. I am also pleased to inform that an Indian-themed New Delhi hall was inaugurated recently at the SCO Secretariat in Beijing. It will essentially be showcasing a Mini-India in the SCO Secretariat.
The Summit also saw today extensive felicitation and congratulation of the leadership by India of its presidency. The extensive reach that we ensured all over the country in hosting the 134 events. The substance to the outcomes of SCO cooperation in line with the SCO charter and its objectives. And one of the larger purpose which is to strengthen, not just cooperation among the governments and the systems, but also people to people ties among the SCO Member States. I would stop here and if there are questions, we will take that.
Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Thank you very much, Sir. Please introduce yourself and the organization you represent.
Sridhar: Sir, I am Sridhar from Asian Age. Sir, we heard the Russian President say that, talk about the trade and commerce between Russia and China in Rubles and Yuan and also there are reports that Indian oil companies are making payments in Yuan to Russia. So just wanted to comment on that and related query, the Kyrgyz President said that the SCO has failed to…
Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Just hang on. Did you say that the Indian oil companies are making payment in Yuan?
Sridhar: Yeah, that’s what the reports.
Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Are you quoting a report or are you making a statement?
Sridhar: No, I read a report yesterday Sir, on this report, Indian oil companies making payment. And also related query, the Kyrgyz President said that the SCO had not lived up to its promise and potential in the field of trade and finance. So could you...get a comment from you on that as well, please? Thank you.
Yeshi Seli: This is Yeshi Seli from The New Indian Express. Sir, can you elaborate a little on the digital financial inclusion amongst the SCO, digital financial inclusion and also Bhasini, I mean, is it a platform which is ready to use or it is just an idea that the PM talked about? Bhasini, the artificial intelligence.
Suhasini: I hope it's not too late to ask this question but since you spoke about the unprecedented interactions held under the SCO rubric, the question again, why was this SCO not held in person? It was certainly a huge contrast to the SCO held just last year in Uzbekistan as well as to plans for the upcoming G20 here, so if those could have been held, presumably COVID was not the reason, why could this one not be held in person? And my second question is a small one, at the Foreign Ministers meeting we did hear about the possibility of a decision on English being taken as one of the formal languages at the SCO, was there any movement on that?
Mukesh Kaushik: Sir, main Mukesh Kaushik hoon Dainik Bhaskar se. Aatankwad ki taraf jo Modi ji ne ishara kiya hain ki terrorism has become a major threat. Usmai ek line quote karke mera sawal main puchna chahta hoon, some countries are using cross-border terrorism as an instrument of their policies, providing strength to terrorism, and there should not be no place of double standards on such serious matters. Sir, main apne hindi pathkonko ye samjhana chahta hoon ki Pakistan ke alawa kaunsa desh hain jo cross-border terrorism...
[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Sir, I am Mukesh Kaushik from Dainik Bhaskar. Regarding the signal that Modi ji has given towards terrorism, I want to ask my question by quoting one line: "Some countries are using cross-border terrorism as an instrument of their policies, providing strength to terrorism, and there should not be any place for double standards on such serious matters." Sir, I want to explain to my Hindi readers which countries, apart from Pakistan, engage in cross-border terrorism...
Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Aap prashna puch rahe hain ki comment kar rahe hain? Sawal kya hain aapka?
[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Are you asking or commenting? What is your question?
Mukesh Kaushik: Pakistan ke alawa aapne kaha some countries, toh pakistan ke alawa kounsa desh ka jikar kar rahe the?
[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Apart from Pakistan, you mentioned "some countries," so which countries are you referring to?
Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Ab Pradhan Mantri ji ko aapne sun to liya aapne, ab chahenge ki hum aapko clarify karain? Anyway, main note kar lunga.
[Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] You have heard the Prime Minister's statement, and now you would like us to clarify? Anyway, I will make a note of it.
Mukesh Kaushik: Pakistan ke alawa aur kaunsa desh hain jiske liye hum some countries keh rahe hain? Aur China ke alawa kaunsa desh hai jo double standard apnata hain?
[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Apart from Pakistan, which other countries are we referring to when we say "some countries"? And apart from China, which other country adopts double standards?
Aayushi: Sir, Aayushi Agarwal from ANI. Sir, in the context of connectivity, the Prime Minister also talked about respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity. Was that a message to Pakistan and China on the BRI and CPEC routes passing through Pakistan Occupied Kashmir since earlier we saw there were reports of expansion of CPEC despite India's concern?
Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Again, you want us to analyse what PM said. Anyway, I will try to pass that question. Just one second. Let me just clarify actually. Your first question was referred to what the Chinese President mentioned. That was actually… Russian president. Oh, sorry. Russian president mentioned what? What is the question?
Sridhar: (Inaudible)
Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: So your question is actually not on that. That is what Foreign Secretary is actually asking. His comment was about Russia and China trading in Ruble and Yuan.
Sridhar: (Inaudible)
Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Of what? Of trading in national currencies? Which we have also been supporting. I don't realize the question specific to SCO.
Sridhar: (Inaudible)
Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: I don't think that is in the perimeter of this one, so I will pass the rest of them.
Runjhun Sharma: Runjhun Sharma, India correspondent, RT. Putin suggested to transform the regional anti-terrorist structure of the SCO into a universal centre that would respond to a range of security threats. Now how much closer military cooperation does India think is possible within the SCO?
Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Sorry. How are the two statements related? Military cooperation is not what RATS is about. The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure is not military, so I just want to make sure that that link is not evident to me. However, we will take that question.
Shashank Mattoo: Thank you very much. Shashank Mattoo with the Mint. Sir, the Prime Minister in his speech basically stated as well that he asked whether the SCO was evolving into an organization that was prepared for the future and this was seen as a comment on whether the SCO has made the reforms and modernizations necessary and he also said that India will support reform and modernization proposals. Can you point to any specific proposals that India will be backing as well as things that the SCO needs that SCO is not filling? And also just a quick question to add to that. In terms of emerging fuels which was mentioned as a new area of cooperation, is there anything specific? Can you give some more flavor on what that cooperation looks like?
Sandeep Dixit: Sandeep Dixit, Tribune. Basically the same. In concrete terms, we would like to know what are the reforms that SCO is undertaking and we heard the Minister at Goa where he said that they would like to introduce English as the third language after Mandarin and Russian. And basically what are the concrete areas of reform in this time?
Madhurendra: Madhurendra News Nation se. Pradhan Mantri Modi ne apne speech mai opening note mai kaha ki samprabhuta aur keshtriya akhandta ka samman kiya jaye. Dusri taraf humne dekha aur suna ki china ke rastrapati ne BRI project mai sabhi SCO sadasya deshon ko shamil karne ki baat kahin, jo ki hamari keshtriya akhandta ke liye sabse bada sawal hain agar hum Pakistan occupied Kashmir mai CPEC ke lihaj se dekhain to. Toh kya ye mana jaye ki SCO ke manch par samprabhuta aur keshtriya akhandata ko lekar aam sahmati nahi hain deshon mai?
[Question in Hindi, Approximate translation] Madhurendra from News Nation. In his opening note in the speech, Prime Minister Modi asked to honour sovereignty and territorial integrity. On the other hand, we have seen and heard that the President of China mentioned about including all SCO member countries in the BRI project, which poses the biggest question to our territorial integrity if we look with respect to CPEC in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. So, can it be inferred that there is not a common consensus regarding sovereignty and territorial integrity among countries at the SCO platform?
Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Let me just first round up the questions relating... there were two, three of them relating to sovereignty, territorial integrity, your last question was also on this subject. You see, many of you would have followed the proceedings today, and the references to sovereignty and territorial integrity came both in the context of the Charter of the SCO as also relating to the connectivity projects that the SCO Member States are…in fact, connectivity was one of the key areas of focus in terms of cooperation among the SCO Member States. But you would have heard and seen that Honourable Prime Minister clearly said in his remarks that connectivity is good and important for cooperation among the SCO Member States. But connectivity has to be respectful of concerns relating to sovereignty and territorial integrity. That was very clearly stated. That is something on which India's position, both vis-a-vis how sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected within the connectivity projects, how that interfaces with BRI. I think India's position on that has been clear and well-known on that question.
Dekhiye jahan tak samprabhuta aur keshtriya akhandta ka prashna hain, pradhan mantri ji ne apne vaktavya mai spast roop se kaha aur aap sabhi ne suna bhi hoga, ke jahan tak connectivity ka mudda hain kshetriya, aarthik sahyog ke liye, SCO members states mai aapas mai sahyog aur sehkarya ke liye connectivity bahut mahatvapurna mudda hai, lekin yeh bhi aavashyak hai ke connecvitiy kisi bhi desh ke samprabhuta aur keshtriya akhandta ko violate na kare. Ye pradhan matri ji ne spast roop se kaha hain, ye bharat ki position pahle bhi rahi hai, chahe woh connectivity projects larger context mai ho ya BRI ke sandarbh mai ho.
[Answer in Hindi, Approximate Translation] Look, as far as the question of sovereignty and territorial integrity is concerned, the Prime Minister clearly stated in his speech, and you all must have heard it too, that when it comes to connectivity for regional and economic cooperation….connectivity is of utmost importance for cooperation and collaboration among SCO Member States. However, it is also necessary that connectivity does not violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of any country. Prime Minister has made this point clearly. This has been India's position in the past as well, whether it pertains to connectivity projects in a larger context or in the context of the BRI.
There was earlier a question on the use of English. I'm told that this is something which is ongoing, the discussions within the SCO framework which discusses reforms and the general modernization of the SCO. The use of English in the work of SCO, besides Mandarin and Russian. I think that is a continuing discussion among the Member States to see how that can be taken forward.
See this question came up in several forms. The question of terrorism, the mandate of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, RATS of the SCO. And as I mentioned in my opening remarks, the priority among the SCO Member States to fight against the menace of terrorism is actually very clearly spelt out in Article 1 of the SCO Charter, which talks of the need for the SCO countries to come together to counteract problems of terrorism, separatism, and extremism. And the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, that is headquartered in Tashkent, essentially was framed and built essentially to meet this particular charter objective of the SCO. And that is a forum which brings together the SCO member countries in terms of what should be the modalities of cooperation among the SCO Member States to fight this challenge. Now, whether that is in terms of information exchange on the specifics of the terrorism, extremism, separatist problem, whether that is related to the sharing of assessments among the SCO Member States, and how exactly should the SCO Member States strengthen cooperation among themselves to fight these challenges. Naturally, as the SCO has grown, the elements of cooperation in this space have also continued to grow. But one thing which it doesn't include is the military cooperation. I think that was the specific question. But I wanted to use the opportunity to answer to that question, to also frame it in the larger perspective of how the SCO Member States prioritized addressing the challenges of terrorism, separatism, and extremism, and how that cooperation is anchored in so far as SCO Member States are concerned within the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, RATS, that is headquartered in Tashkent.
On virtual Summit question which was asked earlier on, this is something which we had responded to in great detail when we had held the original presser about the SCO Summit in one of the previous briefings. There are a number of factors that go behind a decision in holding the Summit, in this case, the virtual Summit, which in no way signifies, hints, insinuates the dilution in the objectives that we are trying to seek of the SCO Summit. If anything, if you look at the range of activities that India has undertaken during our presidency, and I mentioned to you 134 meetings, events, not just of political nature, but also of economic nature and the cultural nature, the number of new initiatives that we have introduced during our presidency, number of new mechanisms that the two key ones which I mentioned, one on the working group on the startups, and the second one was on the traditional medicines. Now, those are areas of extreme relevance and importance, both from the public health perspective when you look at traditional medicine, and innovation in terms of the future areas of economic growth, and also of partnership among the SCO member countries...which allows me partly to segue into the question that was pegged on the statement by the Kyrgyz President, which was on the need for greater cooperation among the Member States on economic issues in general, and trade and particularly the financing modalities in particular. In fact, the question of a need for greater financing modalities was also something which was mentioned by, I think...a couple of other leaders at the Summit today also. Look, all along, one of the primary areas of importance for cooperation among the SCO Member States has been to focus on how to really increase trade, technology, investment, tourism related linkages. You would have heard several references to tourism...cooperation on tourism areas from among the Member States. And that in some ways connects to the decisions to declare cultural capitals also, which has a very strong linkage with the tourism element of the cooperation. Naturally, when you talk of these areas, you cannot also not talk of developmental paradigms that are there in the SCO member countries. Now, each SCO member country tends to approach developmental objectives through its own template. Obviously, one of the key requirements in these developmental initiatives is to have a financing modality, because you need to finance developmental activity. India has a very robust form of...robust developmental cooperation with many of the SCO Member States, particularly in the Central Asian countries. But this is definitely one of the areas on which SCO Member States are very heavily focused and in charting next steps. And so when we talk of working group on startup and innovation, this in a way begins to address those areas of partnership, which perhaps can be undertaken even without large financing requirements. They link directly to the aspirations of the youth in the society. And three, they are becoming a very important segment of the new emerging domains of the economy, not just in India, but in other countries of SCO Member States also. And this is something which has been traditionally a strong strength for us. And we think the SCO Member States can benefit significantly based on what we bring to the table on this.
Yeshi, to your question on Bhashini, the use of...this is something which is, I think, has been put forward by India in terms of how the AI...I don't know whether this is in a generative phase or a non-generative phase, but idea is to...yeah, the idea essentially is that the technologies associated with the domain of artificial technology, how they can be leveraged to meet the developmental challenges within the SCO Member States, how India's experience in using AI and other related technologies in the digital space. So when we talk...in fact, one of the key documents, outcome documents that has been signed, thematic statement that has been signed today by the leaders pertains to the cooperation, the digital space, and artificial intelligence platforms, the one, Bhashini, of course, is a very concrete example, how they can be put forward on the table in terms of our capacities, and used by the SCO Member States to see how it can fulfill some of their developmental, economic, and innovation priorities that they might have in the country.
Is there a specific thing in your mind on digital financial? Yeah, it's a report which is there, which has come out as one of the Ministerial meetings on the digital financial inclusions. Now, you know that the area of financial technologies, FinTech, the way it interfaces with our successful achievement of objectives of including vast sections of the Indian society which were hitherto unbanked, into the banking segment, they are about bringing one major element of financial inclusion. How also we have used digital modalities to ensure that other aspects of governance in the financial field, again, amounting to financial inclusion through transparency, through removal of corruption. So, for example, the direct benefit transfers of the financial subsidies, et cetera. They are all elements of the digital infrastructure being used, digital public infrastructure, being used to extend governance in the financial space to the people. The document that I refer to the report essentially enumerates them in great detail for the benefit of the SCO member countries.
The question of emerging fuels that was asked, when the energy Ministers among the SCO Ministerial meeting when they met, this was floated by India as a concept paper in order so that the SCO member countries, their own priorities relating to emerging fuels…now, whether these emerging fuels segue into the new and renewable energy segments, whether it's green hydrogen, for example, which is, in a way, emerging fuel dimension, but which also has a new and renewable energy dimension, the ethanol mixing of the fuels, which leads to reduction in the conventional fossil fuel demand and also the use efficiency, and also lists some of the other emerging fuels. The idea is to see, given that the challenges of energy security are very crucial to the entire region, and of course, to many of the SCO member countries also, although a couple of them are quite rich in the conventional fossil fuels, but some of them do face these challenges, idea was to see how this can become an area of partnership among the SCO member countries.
Sidhant: Hi, sir, I'm Sidhant from WION. We have looked at expansion of the grouping. Iran became a full member. Are we looking at future members? I mean, Belarus is one country, but any other country has shown interest to become full-fledged member of the grouping?
Srinjoy: Sir, Times Now. Prime Minister spoke about cross-border terrorism. It is clearly coming from one other SCO country. What reaction have we got from them? In the sense you were present at the meeting.
Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: What reaction from whom?
Srinjoy: (Inaudible).
Rishabh: Sir, Rishabh from Times Now. We spoke about radicalism as well as extremism on the same day when Indian diplomatic establishment in the US have faced vandalism, and our diplomats abroad have faced threats. Sir, as a chair of SCO, are we discussing that as well?
Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: I thought he answered on radicalization, terrorism enough.
Maha Siddiqui: Maha Siddiqui from NDTV. Sir, last year on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Samarkand, Prime Minister Modi had told President Putin that this is not the era of war. Eight months down the line, things remain pretty much the same. Was there any reference to the Ukraine war apart from what we heard President Putin, alluding to that Russia is stronger than ever before?
Manas: This is Manas from PTI, Press Trust of India. India has been actually flagging cross-border terrorism since its entry as the full member of SCO in 2017 and it's in every summit we have been raising this issue. So has there been any concrete forward movement in enhancing cooperation among the SCO member countries to deal with this challenge of terrorism?
Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Okay, on the expansion of the SCO, the Leaders today welcome Iran as a new member. Insofar as Belarus is concerned, the Memorandum of Obligations, which is essentially a procedural part for any country to complete before it becomes the member of the SCO, is to be completed. It is generally expected that that would be completed by next year and Belarus would join in after the completion of that process as a member. As of now, there are 14 other Dialogue Partners in the SCO. There are also three Observers. To our understanding, there are no more pending applications with a request to become a member of the SCO as of now.
I really don't want to belabor on this point of the challenge of terrorism, extremism, separatism, you mentioned radicalization. You all heard what Prime Minister said. And what he said is not just in line with what we think to be correct, what the world thinks to be correct, but is also very explicitly provided for in the SCO charter, in Article 1 of the SCO charter, which requires the SCO Member States to work together to address these challenges of terrorism, extremism, separatism. And it says clearly, I think there, I don't really remember the exact language, it says in all manifestations, we have been highlighting this challenge of terrorism well before perhaps any other country started talking about it in terms of the challenge that it presents to the fabric of the societies, the ways of society, and in that, cross border terrorism has been one fact which we have constantly underlined for Member States to recognize, which they do, for them to come together and address this challenge and also its evolving faces. And as I mentioned, insofar as the SCO framework is concerned, there are other frameworks where we talk about this challenge, where we underline the need for the member countries to come together to fight this challenge, but in the SCO framework, Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure is the format and the framework which is available, and we very strongly bring this up in that forum and talk about this.
Maha, look, the Leaders when you… and as I said, you would have all watched those statements made by the Member States, and one thread which you would have found coming across all the interventions by the Leaders today was that the kind of radical changes that are taking place in the world, the conflict in Ukraine, and the impact those developments and the conflict in Ukraine is having on the economic structures and economic problems it's creating for the developing countries. Several Leaders today talked about the problem of food security, fuel security. Some of them even talked about the fertilizer security. Again, the focus, if you watch today, was very heavily on these, and when the Honorable Prime Minister did talk about his statement at Samarkand, he has also been since then always saying, right since the beginning of the conflict, that the world also needs to focus on the challenges that the developing countries and countries of the global south face because of the conflict, essentially of problems of economic nature, problems of food security, fuel security, fertilizer security, which have a very everyday real impact on the populations which we need to address.
Shri Arindam Bagchi, Official Spokesperson: Thank you very much, Sir. Thanks also to Shrimati Yojna Patel for joining us. Thank you all. Good day.
Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary: Thank you very much.