Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday attended the summit of a security grouping created by Moscow and Beijing to counter Western alliances.
Putin and Xi joined the leaders of other countries that are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at its annual meeting in Astana.
The grouping was established in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to promote regional security and economic cooperation. It was later joined by India, Pakistan and Iran. Belarus yesterday joined the SCO.
Photo: AFP
Observer states and dialogue partners include Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Besides Putin and Xi, and summit host Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, attending yesterday’s meeting are Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Iran is still choosing a successor to former president Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash in May, with a runoff election today Friday, so acting president Mohammad Mokhbar would attend.
Other guests of the SCO include Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is visiting Central Asia, was also expected to attend.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent his foreign minister. Indian media reports speculated the recently re-elected Modi was busy with the parliament session that began last week.
For Putin, the summit offered another venue to demonstrate the failure of Western efforts to isolate Russia over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
At a meeting with Xi on Wednesday, Putin hailed the SCO as “one of the key pillars of a fair, multipolar world order,” and said ties between Moscow and Beijing are “experiencing the best period in their history.”
It marked their second meeting in as many months following Putin’s visit to China, which underscored Beijing’s political support for Moscow amid Western sanctions and China’s role as a top market for Russian oil and gas. Russia also has relied on Beijing as a main source of high-tech imports to keep its military machine running.
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