New Delhi: While welcoming Iran as a new member state, and Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar as new dialogue partners of of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the recent developments in Afghanistan had made the challenge of increasing radicalization more apparent for the SCO.
Modi called radicalization to be the root cause of the challenges related to peace, security and trust-deficit, and told SCO to take an initiative on this issue. He noted that recent developments in Afghanistan could further exacerbate the trend towards extremism.
Modi was addressing the virtual Plenary Session of the 21st Meeting of SCO Council of Heads of State that also marked the 20th anniversary of SCO. He urged SCO to develop a common template to fight radicalization and extremism. He said fighting radicalization was not only necessary for regional security and mutual trust, but it was also necessary for the bright future of the younger generations.
He suggested that SCO could work on an agenda to promote moderation and scientific and rational thought, which would be especially relevant for the youth of the region.
“The vast economic potential of this region has also remained untapped due to radicalization and insecurity, be it mineral wealth or intra-SCO trade, to take full advantage of them, we have to emphasize on mutual connectivity. The role of Central Asia in history has been that of a connectivity bridge between major regional markets. This was also the basis of the prosperity of this region. India is committed to increasing its connectivity with Central Asia,” he said.
Stressing that land-locked Central Asian countries could benefit immensely by connecting with India’s vast market, he said unfortunately, many connectivity options were not open to them today due to lack of mutual trust. “Our investment in Iran’s Chabahar port and our efforts towards the International North-South Corridor are driven by this reality,” he said.
– global bihari bureau
