The continuing trade war between the US and China and its impact on the global economy will be among the key talking points at the meet, people in the know said.

Modi is expected to hold bilateral meetings with the presidents of China, Russia and other Central Asian nations on the sidelines of the summit.

India is likely to join China and Russia in voicing reservations about US trade protectionism at the SCO summit in Bishkek this week, which will mark prime minister Narendra Modi’s maiden foreign outreach beyond South Asia in his second term. 

At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting on June 13-14, leaders of these three nations along with other member states may pitch for a “new type” of multilateral trading system based on rules, people familiar with the issue told ET. 

The continuing trade war between the US and China and its impact on the global economy will be among the key talking points at the meet, one of persons cited earlier said. 

China has been reaching out to India, Russia and other SCO states to unite against the protectionist trade policies of US President Donald Trump. At the summit, the leaders of these nations could call for “joint resistance to any manifestations of unilateral protectionism and active cooperation with a view to forming a global economy of a new type and strengthening the multilateral trade system that is inclusive, transparent, non-discriminatory and based on rules”, the official said . 

Modi is expected to hold bilateral meetings with the presidents of China, Russia and other Central Asian nations on the sidelines of the summit. 

The Indian government is upset over the Trump administration’s announcement on May 31 that it was ending a special trade privilege granted to India in 1976 for exporting goods to the US duty-free.