Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday Security Grouping It was created by Moscow and Beijing to counter the Western alliance.
Putin and Xi were attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s annual general meeting in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, along with leaders of other member countries.
The group was founded in 2001 by China, Russia and four former Soviet Central Asian states — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — to promote regional security and economic cooperation. India, Pakistan and Iran have since joined. Belarus, Russia’s western neighbor and ally, joined the SCO on Thursday.
Observer countries and dialogue partners include Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
During the summit, Putin stressed the SCO’s focus on ensuring the security of its member states and said the group would set up a specialized center to coordinate responses to various security challenges, adding that SCO member states would also approve a special program to combat separatism and extremism.
In a speech read out by the official Xinhua News Agency, Xi called on SCO member states to show unity in the face of the “real challenges of interference and polarization”.
“In the face of the real threat of a Cold War mentality, we must uphold minimum standards of security,” he added.
Besides Putin and Xi Jinping, and the summit’s host, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Thursday’s talks will be attended by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Sharif, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent his foreign minister, with Indian media speculating that the recently re-elected prime minister was busy with the parliamentary session that began last week.
Iran still selecting presidential successor Ebrahim RaisiHe died in a helicopter crash in May. Runoff Election Acting President Mohamed Moqbal attended the summit on Friday.
During his meeting with the Russian president on the sidelines of the summit on Thursday, Mokbel conveyed a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Putin, who said the “deep and abiding” ties between the two allies would remain strong regardless of the election. Mokbel added that strong ties between Moscow and Tehran had changed “the balance of power in the world.”
Other guests at the SCO included Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is on a visit to Central Asia, was also in attendance.
For Putin, the summit was a new platform to demonstrate the failure of Western efforts to isolate Russia over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
At Thursday’s summit, Putin referred to comments he made in June that hostilities could end if Ukraine withdraws its troops from four territories annexed by Moscow in 2022 and abandons its application for NATO membership – an idea rejected by Kiev and its allies.
Putin also expressed gratitude for the peace solution proposed by the SCO member states, adding that Moscow would take it into consideration.
Moscow is Peace Plan China made a proposal to Ukraine last year that it not ask Russia to withdraw from its occupied territories, but it was rejected by both Ukraine and the West.
Putin later told Russian reporters he had noted that presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had claimed he could resolve the Ukraine crisis, saying “we take this very seriously,” but said he did not know the details of what proposals Trump might make.
During his meeting with Xi on Wednesday, Putin praised the SCO as “one of the important pillars of a fair and multipolar world order” and said relations between Moscow and Beijing were “entering the best period in their history.”
This was the second meeting in several months since Putin’s visit to China, and Beijing Political support China poses a threat to Moscow amid Western sanctions and China’s role as a major market for Russian oil and gas. Moscow also relies on Beijing as a major source of high-tech imports to sustain its military.
The SCO helps China exert its influence, especially in Central Asia and the Middle East. Global SouthLast week, Xi called for building a “bridge of communication” between countries, as he wants to further promote China as an alternative to the United States and its allies.
For host Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries, the conference is a way to further deepen cooperation with larger, more powerful neighbors. Kazakhstan, for example, engages frequently with both neighbors Russia and China while pursuing ties with the West.
In his opening remarks at the summit, President Tokayev praised the SCO as “one of the most prestigious and influential international organizations.”
