Dushanbe

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today today left for home after wrapping up his eight-day whirlwind tour of five Central Asian countries and Russia during which ties with these nations were strengthened and India was accepted as a full member of the SCO.

Modi completed the final leg of his trip in Tajikistan after holding talks with the leadership here before leaving for Delhi in the night.

He had embarked on the tour on July 6, starting with Uzbekistan. During his visit, India and Uzbekistan decided to boost ties in key areas of atomic energy, defence and trade.

Modi then visited Kazakhstan. Both countries inked five key agreements including a defence pact to enhance military cooperation and a contract for supply of uranium.

The Prime Minister then flew to Ufa, Russia, from Astana to attend the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summits.

In Ufa, Modi held important bilateral meetings with world leaders. On the first day, he met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Modi also met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and discussed wide ranging issues, including the strategically important Chabahar port project.

On his third day in Ufa, Modi met Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the SCO summit.

Breaking the deadlock between the two countries with the meeting, the two leaders decided to revive the stalled dialogue process and quicken the Mumbai attack case trial.

During his Ufa stay, Modi held bilateral meetings with BRICS leaders and attended the BRICS and SCO summits. At the SCO Summit, India was accepted as a full member.

Modi then flew to Ashgabat where after holding talks with the Turkmen leadership there, he batted for an early implementation of the USD 10 billion TAPI pipeline project.

From there he travelled to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. During his visit, India and Kyrgyzstan signed four agreements including one to boost defence cooperation and hold annual joint military exercises. On the final leg of his tour he visited Tajikistan.

PTI