NEW DEL I  -    In­dia said Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take part in a regional sum­mit in Uzbekistan that accord­ing to Russia will see face-to-face talks between Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organ­isation (SCO) comprising Chi­na, Russia, four Central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Kyr­gyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajik­istan -- India and Pakistan is due to take place in Samarkand on September 15 and 16. On Wednesday Russia’s ambas­sador to China said that Putin and Xi would meet at the sum­mit, in what will be the Chinese leader’s first trip abroad since the early days of the corona­virus pandemic. Beijing’s for­eign ministry did not imme­diately confirm the meeting, with a spokesperson saying at a regular press briefing that “there is no information to pro­vide” on the matter. The Indi­an government statement on Sunday did not say whether Modi would hold bilateral talks with Putin, Xi or -- for the first time since he became Pakistani prime minister in April -- She­hbaz Sharif. Sourcing most of its arms from Russia, India like China has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and has ramped up purchases of Russian oil.