PM to visit Russia for BRIC Summit

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will travel to Yekaterinburg in Russia on June 15 and 16 for his first foreign visit in his second term in office to attend the Brazil-Russia-India-China (BRIC) Summit.

Dr Singh is also planning to attend the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which will be hosted by Egypt on July 15 and 16 at Sharm-el-Sheikh, sources in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.

Interestingly, the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in which India only has an observer status, will also be held in Yekaterinburg on the same dates as the BRIC meeting and it remains to be seen if Dr Singh will make an exception and attend it this time.

India has chosen to be represented at SCO summits so far only at the ministerial level because it is not a full-fledged member of the grouping that was founded in 2001 and brings together China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

India, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Mongolia are "observer" countries in SCO.

The main thrust of SCO's discussions are on security in Central Asia, terrorism, drug trafficking and related issues. In recent years, the discussions have also focussed on strengthening economic and cultural cooperation in the region.

It is understood that Russia, the hosts, are keen on having the observer countries attend the main SCO meeting this time.

The fact that India has not been represented at the highest level in SCO Summits has been criticised in some quarters, who think it is long overdue. Others are of the view that the Prime Minister should not attend a meeting of an organisation in which India is not a full-fledged member.

SCO members are understood to be keen on India joining the organisation as a full member, given its growing political and economic clout as well as its close relations with the member-countries.

Yekaterinburg is a major city in Central Russia, located on the eastern side of Ural mountain range, and the main industrial and cultural centre of the region. With a population of about 1.3 million, it is Russia's fifth largest city. Between 1924 and 1991, the city was known as Sverdlovsk.

NNN