Narendra Modi meets Kazakhstan president on sidelines of SCO Summit, invites him to join International Solar Alliance

Qingdao: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday held a “productive” meeting with Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev and invited his country to join the International Solar Alliance. Modi met Nazarbayev on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the eastern Chinese port city. “Prime Minister Modi had a productive meeting with Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of Kazakhstan, on the sidelines of the SCO Summit,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

PM @narendramodi met the President of #Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on the sidelines of the #SCO2018 in #Qingdao. Both leaders exchanged views on several aspects of our bilateral relations and steps to take it forward. pic.twitter.com/iN8A2X9PKA

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) June 10, 2018

Prime Minister Modi invited the Kazakhstan president to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA), an initiative announced in 2015 whose primary objective is to work for efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. “PM Narendra Modi invited Kazakhstan to join the International Solar Alliance and the President of Kazakhstan responded positively,” said Ruchi Ghanashyam, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs. Modi held nearly half a dozen bilateral meetings with leaders of other SCO countries. Other leaders attending the summit include Chinese president Xi Jinping, Russian president Vladimir Putin, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani and Pakistan president Mamnoon Hussain. Prime Minister Modi on Saturday had separate meetings with the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Tajikistan president Emomali Rahmon on the sidelines of the summit and discussed a range of topics with them to further strengthen India’s ties with the resource-rich Central Asian countries.