India to be made permanent member of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, says Putin to Modi

Ufa: India and Russia on Wednesday decided to accelerate bilateral civil nuclear energy cooperation as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to take their strategic bilateral ties forward. Modi and Putin met for 90 minutes shortly after the Indian Prime Minister arrived on a three day visit here to attend the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summits. [caption id=“attachment_1839943” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PM Narendra Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin. AFP[/caption] The two leaders also undertook a “comprehensive review” of bilateral defence cooperation, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar told reporters here. “They paid a lot of attention to accelerate civil nuclear cooperation,” he said. India’s accession to the SCO was also discussed at the meeting. “I am looking forward to developing the cooperation (between the two countries),” Putin said. Modi, who is here primarily for BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summits, thanked Putin for the welcome he got on his arrival earlier in the day. He also thanked Putin with regard to India getting the membership of SCO with the process set to be complete by next year. Modi mentioned that the Russian President himself called him to inform about the decision of the six-nation grouping. The Prime Minister, while talking about the close relationship between India and Russia, said he will be visiting this country again later this year for the annual bilateral summit meeting. PTI