Xi and Putin set out ambitions for Eurasian security club
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Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Mr Vladimir Putin, have expanded the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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ASTANA, Kazakhstan – Chinese President Xi Jinping on July 4 urged members of a regional security club to resist external meddling, while Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to speak about creating a new Eurasian security system at the group’s annual meeting.
Mr Xi and Mr Putin have expanded the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) – a club founded in 2001 with Russia, China and Central Asian nations – to include India, Iran and Pakistan as a counterweight to the West.
“In the face of the real risks of small yards with high fences, we must safeguard the right to development,
The bloc must handle “internal difference” with peace, seek common ground, and resolve cooperation difficulties, Mr Xi added.
The main meeting took place behind closed doors, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by the RIA news agency, said on July 4 that Mr Putin would discuss with the group his idea of creating a new set of Eurasian collective security treaties.
Mr Putin said in June a new regional security system was necessary, and it should be open to all countries on the continent, including Nato members, but its aim should be to gradually remove all external military presence from Eurasia, a clear reference to the United States. REUTERS
