India-China SCO talks focus on trade security, connectivity under first bilateral consultations

New Delhi: India and China held their first bilateral consultations on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in New Delhi on April 16-17, agreeing to strengthen cooperation on security, trade and regional connectivity.

The two sides exchanged views on implementing SCO leaders' decisions and the future course of the organisation. They agreed to continue and deepen consultations on SCO-related issues, officials said.

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India's SCO national coordinator Alok A Dimri and China's national coordinator ambassador Yan Wenbin led their respective delegations. Both delegations jointly called on secretary (west) in the ministry of external affairs Sibi George to review cooperation within the SCO framework, including security, trade, connectivity and people-to-people ties, an official said.

The meeting, the first of its kind, is expected to build confidence between the two countries as they seek to stabilise overall bilateral ties and improve coordination within the SCO amid geopolitical and geoeconomic shifts.

Over the years New Delhi and Beijing have differed over key SCO agenda items, including counter-terrorism and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). BRI's flagship initiative, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, passes through Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which India says violates its sovereignty.

China has backed Pakistan on cross-border terrorism issues at SCO forums, while India has avoided endorsing references to BRI in SCO summit joint statements, even as it supports the broader outcome. In recent years, New Delhi has also raised concerns over Chinese initiatives in the Eurasian region, warning that BRI could push countries into a debt trap.