New Delhi
5 June 2010
External affairs minister SM Krishna will visit Uzbekistan next week for the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which is likely to endorse the opening
up of the membership of the six-member regional grouping to include countries such as
India.
India has made its intention of becoming an SCO member very clear and it is
coordinating its approach with China and Russia. A source here said India's membership
is subject to the summit approving the criteria for admission of new members.
Established in 2001, the SCO comprises the six countries of Russia, China, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, India, Iran and Pakistan became SCO
observers in 2004. In 2009, Sri Lanka and Belarus became the dialogue partners of SCO.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan is expected to participate in the summit.
Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is not likely to be present, rendering
the chances of a meeting between the Indian and Pakistani delegations very slim.
A source here said the two foreign ministers will in any case meet next month. Mr
Qureshi has invited Mr Krishna to visit Pakistan on July 15 for talks aimed at bridging
the trust deficit between India and Pakistan.
Mr Krishna has told journalists in Washington after the conclusion of the inaugural India-
US strategic dialogue that New Delhi will want to keep talking to Islamabad in spite of
Pakistan not giving satisfaction to India on bringing the 26/11 terrorists to justice.
"Well, things are not exactly going as per our estimates, but nonetheless, we can't give
up[.] We will have to keep engaging Pakistan, we will have to keep talking to them and
that is what we intend doing," Mr Krishna said.
Speaking at a security conference in Singapore, national security adviser Shivshankar
Menon on Saturday said terrorist groups are networked to an unprecedented extent and
it is no longer possible to segment them by origin or ideology or targets.
"The 26/11 attacks on India were planned and organised in one country, where the
attackers were trained, the logistics and communication support chain extended over at
least seven countries," Mr Menon said.
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