Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin changed Monday to stroke to the west under a collection of Eurasian leaders aimed at putting Beijing Front and the center of regional relations.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) proclaims itself as a non-Western cooperation between 10 countries in the region and seeks to be an alternative to traditional alliances.
XI told leaders, including Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that the global situation became more “chaotic and intertwined”.
The Chinese leader also slammed “bullying behavior” from certain countries – a blurred reference to the United States.
“The security and development tasks facing the member states have become even more challenging,” he said in his address in the northern port city of Tianjin.
“With the world undergoing turbulence and transformation, we must continue to follow the Shanghai spirit … and better execute the organization’s functions.”
Putin used his speech to defend Russia’s Ukraine offensive, accused the West of triggering the three and a half years conflict that has killed tens of thousands and destroyed large parts of eastern Ukraine.
“This crisis was not triggered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but was a result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West,” Putin said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called on China to work against peace during Putin’s visit and said in a statement from Kiev that they “would welcome a more active role” for Beijing to help find peace “based on respect for the UN -Charter”.
Putin meanwhile praised Turkey’s mediation efforts in the conflict as he met the Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
And Putin later met his Iranian colleague Masoud Pezeshkian, said the Kremlin, with the couple expected to discuss Iran’s nuclear program.
‘Always insightful’
Formerly, leaders from the 10 countries – China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadsjikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus – for a group photo on a red runner.
Xi, Putin and Modi were seen chatting, flanked by their translators. Modi and Putin were photographed holding hands and giving lectures in the afternoon.
Russian state media reported that the couple spent almost an hour talking “face to face” in Putin’s armored presidential car before an official meeting.
“Conversations with him are always insightful,” Modi published on X along with a photograph of those traveling in the car.
Before their meeting, Modi praised the “special and privileged strategic partnership” with Moscow, adding that India would have both sides in the Ukraine conflict to “find stable peace”.
‘Mutual trust’
The SCO summit started on Sunday, days before a massive military parade in Beijing to mark 80 years ago the end of 2. World War.
Member States on Monday signed a statement that agreed to strengthen cooperation in sectors such as security and economy, said China’s Xinhua news agency.
Xinhua added that the leaders also admitted Laos as an observer country or “dialogue partner” – the summit already has 16 observers.
XI held a flurry of back-to-back meetings with leaders, including Lukashenko-a Putin’s regular allied and modi, who is on his first visit to China since 2018.
Modi told XI that India was obliged to take “forward our ties based on mutual trust, dignity and sensitivity”.
The world’s two most populous nations are intense rivals competing for influence in South Asia, and they fought for a deadly border clash in 2020.
A thaw began last October when Modi met XI for the first time in five years at a summit in Russia.
Their approximation elaborated when US President Donald Trump pushed both Asian economic giants with trade rigs.
More than 20 leaders attend The Bloc’s largest meeting since it was founded in 2001.
Many of the overall dignitaries will be in Beijing on Wednesday to see the military parade, which will also be attended by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
A train that transported Kim entered China early Tuesday, reported South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency with reference to NORD’s state radio service.
