Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday landed in Samarkand for the summit of SCO heads of state.

Attending on the invitation of host country Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, he was warmly received by his Uzbek counterpart Abdulla Aripov, several ministers, Samarkand region Governor and other senior officials at the airport.

The Prime Minister will participate in the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Friday and will hold bilateral meetings with the Uzbek President and some other leaders attending the Summit.

The regional multilateral organisation was set up in 2001 with Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan as members, while India and Pakistan became full members in 2017.

The Council of the SCO Heads of State is the highest decision-making body of the organisation and meets for an annual summit that is hosted by a member state of the SCO.

Prime Minister Modi has been leading the Indian delegation to the SCO Summit every year, since India became its full member in 2017. During the last two summits in 2020 and 2021, he participated in the virtual format. (KB/IANS)