India lauds SCO’s role in regional security

NEW DELHI - India has reiterated its commitment to the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and lauded the emergence of the intergovernmental military alliance as a dynamic regional grouping.

Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde represented Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the SCO summit in the Tajik capital Dushanbe Thursday.

In his address, Shinde underscored the importance India attaches to its association with SCO, which has steadily emerged as a dynamic regional grouping contributing to economic development and security in the region.

“He reiterated Indias continuing commitment to the SCO and its different bodies, the external affairs ministry said in a statement here Saturday.

Shinde also held separate conversations with the prime ministers of Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Pakistan, and the leaders of the Afghanistan and Mongolian delegations, the ministry said.

India is an observer, since 2005, at the six-nation SCO that comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Russia has strongly backed Indias full membership in the SCO.