Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday departed for Kazakhstan to take part in the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Astana.[Special coverage]
In his pre-departure statement, Modi said he was looking forward to deepening engagement with the SCO countries and that India's association with the grouping will help the country in economic growth as well as counter-terrorism cooperation.
"I look forward to deepening India's association with the SCO which will help us in economic, connectivity and counter-terrorism cooperation, among other things," the prime minister said.
"At this meeting, on completion of the process, India will become a full member of the SCO upon which the SCO will represent over 40 percent of humanity and nearly 20 percent of the global GDP (gross domestic product," Modi said.
"Together, we will harvest new opportunities for beneficial engagement and redouble efforts to address common challenges that may come in the way of realizing our full potential," he added.
