Fighting redicalisation must for the bright future of younger generations says Prime minister Modi

Prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the plenary session of the 21st meeting of the SCO Council of heads of states congratulating Tajikistan president Mr. Rehmon for presiding it and efficiently managing the organisation in this challenging regional and global environment especially when Tajikistan is, witnessing the 30 th Independence year. He congratulated him and the brothers and sisters of TAJIKISTAN on this ocassion.

While also congratulating on the ocassion of 20 th year of SCO prime minister Modi said : I believe that the biggest challenges in this area are related to peace, security and trust-deficit and the root cause of these problems is increasing radicalization. Recent developments in Afghanistan have made this challenge more apparent. SCO should take an initiative on this issue he said.

Lauding the role of Central Asian countries as the flag bearers of tolerence, peace and harmony prime minister Modi said that if we look at the history, we will find that the region of Central Asia has been a bastion of moderate and progressive cultures and values.

Traditions like Sufism have flourished here over the centuries and spread throughout the region and the world. We can still see their influence in the cultural heritage of this region. On the basis of this historical heritage of Central Asia, SCO should develop a common template to fight radicalization and extremism he urged.

He added that in India and almost in all SCO countries, there are moderate, tolerant and inclusive institutions and traditions associated with Islam.

SCO should work to develop a strong network between them. In this context, he appreciated the useful work being done by SCO-RATS. He said : expect our SCO partners to actively participate in the calendar of activities that has been built for India’s Presidency of SCO-RATS.

Speaking against redicalisation and dwelling on tolerance prime minister said that fighting radicalization is not only necessary for regional security and mutual trust, but is also necessary for the bright future of our younger generations. He added : to compete with the developed world, our region has to become a stakeholder in emerging technologies and for this we have to encourage our talented youth towards science and rational thinking.

He added : With this approach, India organized the first SCO Start-Up Forum and Young Scientists Conference last year and in the previous years too India has successfully used technology in its development journey said prime minister.

Saying that India has shared open source technologies with SCO countries PM Modi said whether it is technologies like UPI and Rupay Card to increase financial inclusion or digital platforms like our Aarogya-Setu and COWIN in the fight against COVID, we have voluntarily shared these with other countries as well. We will be happy to share these open source technologies also with our SCO partners and to organize capacity building activities for this.


Reitering the urgent need to tap resources of the SCO countries prime minister Narendra Modi said the vast economic potential of this region has also remained untapped due to radicalization and insecurity, be it mineral wealth or intra-SCO trade and in order to take full advantage of them, we have to emphasize on mutual connectivity adding that the role of Central Asia in history has been that of a connectivity bridge between major regional markets. This was also the basis of the prosperity of this region. India is committed to increasing its connectivity with Central Asia he added.

Addressing SCO meet virtually prime minister Narendra Modi said we believe that land-locked Central Asian countries can benefit immensely by connecting with India’s vast market. Unfortunately, many connectivity options are not open to them today due to lack of mutual trust. Our investment in Iran’s Chabahar port and our efforts towards the International North-South Corridor are driven by this reality.

Emphasising on connectivity initiatives PM Modi said
any initiative on connectivity cannot be a one-way street but should be consultative, transparent and participatory to ensure mutual trust. In this regard, respect for the territorial integrity of all countries should be implicit and based on these principles, SCO should develop suitable norms for connectivity projects in the region added prime minister.


Emphasising on the success of SCO prime minister said one of the main reasons for the success of SCO is that its core focus has been on the priorities of the region and is sure that his suggestions on radicalization, connectivity and people-to-people relations will further strengthen this role of SCO. He concluding his, speech thanked Tajikistan president Mr. Rehmon saying that despite the challenge of this hybrid format, he has organized and successfully conducted this Summit further extending his wishes to Uzbekistan as the next SCO Chairman assuring India’s full cooperation.