Talks between the two leaders lasted four and a half hours on Monday, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Further formal meetings are expected to follow on Tuesday…reports Asian Lite News
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the Kremlin, has said his country is “always open for a negotiation process”.
Putin made the remarks on Monday in response to China’s “plan settle ongoing Ukraine crisis”.
The plan aimed to “end the Russia-Ukraine war” was released by China in February. However, the US has warned it could be a “stalling tactic”, the BBC reported.
“The world should not be fooled by any tactical move by Russia, supported by China or any other country, to freeze the war on its own terms,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was quoted as saying by the British broadcaster.
“Calling for a ceasefire that does not include the removal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory would effectively be supporting the ratification of Russian conquest,” Blinken added.
Talks between the two leaders lasted four and a half hours on Monday, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Further formal meetings are expected to follow on Tuesday.
Xi, who called Putin his “dear friend,” praised his Russian counterpart, saying the country’s development had “significantly improved”, CNN reported.
“Both sides exchanged in-depth views on the Ukraine issue,” reported Xinhua news agency, describing the leaders’ meeting as “in-depth and candid.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed China’s efforts on Friday, saying Kyiv needed to cooperate with Beijing to put an end to the war…reports Asian Lite News
French President Emmanuel Macron has said he will visit China in April to seek the Chinese government’s help with ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The announcement on Saturday came after China published a 12-point position paper that called for a ceasefire and a “political settlement” to end the year-long conflict.
“The fact that China is engaging in peace efforts is a good thing,” the French leader said, stressing that peace was only possible if “Russian aggression was halted, troops withdrawn, and the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine and its people was respected”.
“China must help us put pressure on Russia so that it never uses chemical or nuclear weapons … and that it stops its aggression as a precondition for talks,” he added.
Beijing has sought to position itself as a neutral party on the conflict, even as it has maintained close ties with Russia and helped scuttle a joint statement condemning the war at a G20 gathering in India.
The Chinese position paper, published on the anniversary of the conflict, said war benefits no one and urged all parties to “support Russia and Ukraine in working in the same direction and resuming direct dialogue as quickly as possible”.
Released by the foreign ministry, the plan urges an end to Western sanctions against Russia, the establishment of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians and steps to ensure the export of grain after disruptions caused global food prices to spike last year.
It also made clear its opposition to the use and threat of deploying nuclear weapons after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to use Moscow’s atomic arsenal in the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed China’s efforts on Friday, saying Kyiv needed to cooperate with Beijing to put an end to the war.
“China started talking about Ukraine, and that’s not bad,” Zelenskyy said. “It seems to me that there is respect for our territorial integrity, security issues.”
“We need to work with China on this point. … Our task is to unite everyone in order to isolate one,” he added.
The Ukrainian leader also expressed hopes to meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, calling it “important for world security”.
But some of Ukraine’s allies have expressed scepticism at China’s commitment to brokering peace, nodding to Beijing’s close ties to Moscow.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said China was not well placed to negotiate an end to the war. “China doesn’t have much credibility because they have not been able to condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine,” he told reporters, adding that Beijing had signed an agreement with Putin days before the invasion, pledging a “no limits” partnership.
Covid protests widen in China with calls for Xi Jinping to step down
State censors appeared to have scrubbed Chinese social media of any news about the rallies, with the search terms “Liangma River”, “Urumqi Road”…reports Asian Lite News
China’s censors were working Monday to extinguish signs of rare, social media-driven protests that flared across major cities over the weekend calling for political freedoms and an end to Covid lockdowns.
Sunday saw people take to the streets in several major cities across China to call for an end to lockdowns and greater political freedoms, in a wave of nationwide protests not seen since pro-democracy rallies in 1989 were crushed.
A deadly fire last week in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang region, has become a catalyst for public anger, with many blaming Covid lockdowns for hampering rescue efforts.
But they have also featured prominent calls for greater political freedoms — with some even demanding the resignation of China’s President Xi Jinping, recently re-appointed to an unprecedented third term as the country’s leader.
Large crowds gathered Sunday in the capital Beijing and Shanghai, where police clashed with protesters as they tried to stop groups from converging at Wulumuqi street, named after the Mandarin for Urumqi.
Crowds that had gathered overnight — some of whom chanted “Xi Jinping, step down! CCP, step down!” — were dispersed by Sunday morning.
But in the afternoon, hundreds rallied in the same area with blank sheets of paper and flowers to hold what appeared to be a silent protest, an eyewitness said.
In the capital, at least 400 people gathered on the banks of a river for several hours, with some shouting: “We are all Xinjiang people! Go Chinese people!”
Reporters at the scene described the crowd singing the national anthem and listening to speeches, while on the other side of the canal bank, a line of police cars waited.
State censors appeared to have scrubbed Chinese social media of any news about the rallies, with the search terms “Liangma River”, “Urumqi Road” — sites of protests in Beijing and Shanghai — scrubbed of any references to the rallies on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.
Videos including those showing university students singing in protest and rallies in other cities had also vanished from WeChat, replaced by notices saying the content was reported for “non-compliant or sensitive content.”
The Weibo search for the hashtag #A4 — a reference to the blank pieces of paper held up at rallies in a symbolic protest against censorship — also appeared to have been manipulated, showing only a handful of posts from the past day.
Boiling point
China’s strict control of information and continued travel curbs tied to the zero-Covid policy make verifying numbers of protestors across the vast country challenging.
But such widespread rallies are exceptionally rare, with authorities harshly clamping down on any and all opposition to the central government.
Protests also occurred on Sunday in Wuhan, the central city where Covid-19 first emerged, while there were reports of demonstrations in Guangzhou, Chengdu and Hong Kong.
Spreading through social media, they have been fuelled by frustration at the central government’s zero-Covid policy, which sees authorities impose snap lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and mass testing campaigns over just a handful of cases.
State-run newspaper the People’s Daily published a commentary Monday morning warning against “paralysis” and “battle-weariness” in the fight against Covid — but stopped far short of calling for an end to hardline policy.
“People have now reached a boiling point because there has been no clear direction to path to end the zero-Covid policy,” Alfred Wu Muluan, a Chinese politics expert at the National University of Singapore, said.
“The party has underestimated the people’s anger.”
Investors were spooked by the weekend protests, with Asian stocks opening sharply lower on Monday morning.
China reported 40,052 domestic Covid-19 cases Monday, a record high but tiny compared to caseloads in the West at the height of the pandemic.
Clashes in Shanghai
Hundreds of demonstrators and police have clashed in Shanghai as protests over Chinas stringent Covid restrictions continued for a third day and spread to several cities, in the biggest test for President Xi Jinping since he secured a historic third term in power.
The wave of civil disobedience is unprecedented in mainland China in the past decade, as frustration mounts over Xi’s signature zero-Covid policy nearly three years into the pandemic, the Guardian reported.
Protests triggered by a deadly apartment fire in the far west of the country last week took place on Sunday in cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Wuhan and Guangzhou.
On Monday, China reported a new daily record of new Covid-19 infections, with 40,347 cases.
There were suggestions the missile had been fired by the Russians into Poland, a NATO member, but US President Joe Biden appeared to suggest the missile may not have been fired from Russia…reports Asian Lite News
Rishi Sunak’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping has been called off, Downing Street has said.
The prime minister was set to hold a meeting with Mr Xi at the G20 summit in Bali on Wednesday morning, UK time, in what would have been the first time a British leader had faced him in almost five years.
However, the much-anticipated meeting was scrapped moments before it was set to take place due to scheduling issues, a Downing Street spokesman said.
An emergency meeting was scheduled on Wednesday morning instead between the leaders of NATO and the G7 nations after missiles were fired into Poland and killed two civilians on Tuesday night.
China is not part of the G7 so Xi was not in that emergency meeting.
There were suggestions the missile had been fired by the Russians into Poland, a NATO member, but US President Joe Biden appeared to suggest the missile may not have been fired from Russia.
An urgent investigation is taking place to determine who fired it.
The roundtable of like-minded leaders pledged to offer their “full support” for Poland’s investigation, with preliminary assessments from US intelligence suggesting the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian one.
Sunak headed to the G20 summit on Sunday without confirmation he would meet Xi and saying he was “hopeful” they would meet, but on Tuesday evening the bilateral was confirmed, before being called off hours later.
On Tuesday, Sunak said, “represents the single biggest straight threat to our economic security” and said his approach to Xi would be “very similar to our allies”, such as the US and Australia.
Both western countries’ leaders have been more outspoken against China than the UK as they have had more direct friction over Taiwan for the US and potential illicit Chinese political influence in Australia.
Sunak has been accused by critics, including from his own party, of softening his rhetoric against China since becoming PM after he took a tougher stance during the summer’s leadership campaign when he called Beijing a “threat” instead of just a “challenge”.
At the time, he accused Beijing of “stealing our technology and infiltrating our universities” while “propping up Putin’s fascist invasion of Ukraine”, bullying Taiwan and contravening the human rights of the Uyghurs and people in Hong Kong, as well as suppressing their currency to “continually rig the global economy in their favour”.
Downing Street had insisted Sunak would have been “frank” during his meeting with Mr Xi and would raise China’s poor human rights record.
That will now not happen.
While in Bali, Sunak has had one-to-one meetings with Canada’s Justin Trudeau and Biden.
A meeting with Japan’s Fumio Kishida was cancelled on Wednesday as the two attended the emergency G7 meeting.
Sunak is due to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on Wednesday, when he is set to confirm a deal allowing 3,000 young professionals from India to work in the UK for two years as the UK continues to attempt to strike a trade deal with India.
Positive meeting with @POTUS today, our strong relationship is important for international challenges the world is facing.
We will work together, and with allies, to address the economic consequences of Putin’s brutality. pic.twitter.com/YZxdL2OMrj
The PM is also set to talk to Australia’s Anthony Albanese and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Rishi Sunak was asked what UK intelligence is saying about the missile which hit Poland, in terms of where it came from.
The Prime Minister said “what we all agreed this morning was that it was important for our teams to establish the facts”.
He said there are “teams on the ground” to “get to the bottom of what happened”.
Sunak said that Vladimir Putin has shown a “casual disregard for human life” as he blasted the Russian President for failing to attend the G20 summit.
The Prime Minister said that other G20 leaders “refused to let Russia’s grandstanding… undermine this important opportunity to make life easier for our people”.
Sunak and Trudeau hold talks with Zelensky
Sunak and Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from the G20 in Indonesia.
“The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Trudeau expressed their condolences for the terrible loss of life as a result of Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight,” a Downing Street spokesman said.
“They underscored their enduring support for Ukraine’s resistance and updated President Zelensky on their discussions at the G20 on this issue.
“The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Trudeau emphasised the importance of a full investigation into the circumstances behind missiles falling in Poland yesterday. They stressed that, whatever the outcome of that investigation, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is squarely to blame for the ongoing violence.
“President Zelensky thanked the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Trudeau for their support.”
Biden meets Xi for the first time after taking charge
Xi spoke about charting a “flight course” for the relationship between the two superpowers, which is important not only for the two countries, but also for the whole world…reports Asian Lite news
US President Joe Biden told his China counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday that he is committed to keeping lines of communication open with the latter.
The meeting took place in Bali, a day before the G-20 summit is due to kick off. It was the first physical meeting between Biden and Xi since the former took charge as US President.
Xi spoke about charting a “flight course” for the relationship between the two superpowers, which is important not only for the two countries, but also for the whole world.
The White House said in a statement: “President Biden raised Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine and Russia’s irresponsible threats of nuclear use. President Biden and President Xi reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won and underscored their opposition to the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
“President Biden also raised concerns about the DPRK’s provocative behavior, noted all members of the international community have an interest in encouraging the DPRK to act responsibly, and underscored the United States’ ironclad commitment to defending our Indo-Pacific Allies.”
The meeting came a time when ties between the two countries are at a historic low over China’s position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, which was cited by Beijing to shut down military-to-military and other lines of communication.
“I am committed to keeping the lines of communication open between you (Xi) and me personally and our governments,” Biden said in remarks before the meeting.
Taiwan has emerged as one of the most contentious issues between Washington and Beijing. Multiple times in his presidency, Biden has said the US would defend the island in case of a Beijing-led invasion…reports Asian Lite News
President Joe Biden will sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday for their first in-person meeting since the US president took office nearly two years ago, amid increasing tensions between the two superpowers as they vie for global influence.
Both men are coming into the highly anticipated meeting — held on the margins of the Group of 20 summit of world leaders in Indonesia — with bolstered political standing at home. Democrats triumphantly held onto control of the Senate, with a chance to boost their ranks by one in a runoff election in Georgia next month, while Xi was awarded a third five-year term in October by the Communist Party’s national congress.
“We have very little misunderstanding,” Biden told reporters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where he participated in a gathering of southeast Asian nations before leaving for Indonesia. “We just got to figure out where the red lines are and … what are the most important things to each of us going into the next two years.”
Biden added: “His circumstance has changed, to state the obvious, at home.” The president said of his own situation: “I know I’m coming in stronger.”
White House aides have repeatedly sought to play down any notion of conflict between the two nations and have emphasized that they believe the two countries can work in tandem on shared challenges such as climate change and health security.
But relations between the U.S. and China have become increasingly strained during Biden’s presidency.
As president, Biden has repeatedly taken China to task for human rights abuses against the Uyghur people and other ethnic minorities, crackdowns on democracy activists in Hong Kong, coercive trade practices, military provocations against self-ruled Taiwan and differences over Russia’s prosecution of its war against Ukraine. Chinese officials have largely refrained from public criticism of Russia’s war, although Beijing has avoided direct support such as supplying arms.
Taiwan has emerged as one of the most contentious issues between Washington and Beijing. Multiple times in his presidency, Biden has said the U.S. would defend the island — which China has eyed for eventual unification — in case of a Beijing-led invasion. But administration officials have stressed each time that the U.S.’s “One China” policy has not changed. That policy recognizes the government in Beijing while allowing for informal relations and defense ties with Taipei, and its posture of “strategic ambiguity” over whether whether it would respond militarily if the were island attacked.
Tensions flared even higher when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., visited Taiwan in August, prompting China to retaliate with military drills and the firing of ballistic missiles into nearby waters.
The Biden administration also blocked exports of advanced computer chips to China last month — a national security move that bolsters U.S. competition against Beijing. Chinese officials quickly condemned the restrictions.
And though the two men have held five phone or video calls during Biden’s presidency, White House officials say those encounters are no substitute for Biden being able to meet and size up Xi in person. That task is all the more important after Xi strengthened his grip on power through the party congress, as lower-level Chinese officials have been unable or unwilling to speak for their leader.
Asked about the anticipated meeting, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said last week at a news briefing that China was looking for “win-win cooperation with the U.S.” while reiterating Beijing’s concerns about the U.S. stance on Taiwan.
“The U.S. needs to stop obscuring, hollowing out and distorting the One China principle, abide by the basic norms in international relations, including respecting other countries’ sovereignty, territorial integrity and noninterference in other countries’ internal affairs,” he said.
Xi has stayed close to home throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic, where he has enforced a “zero-COVID” policy that has resulted in mass lockdowns that have roiled the global supply chains.
He made his first trip outside China since start of the pandemic in September with a stop in Kazakhstan and then onto Uzbekistan to take part in the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization with Putin and other leaders of the Central Asian security group.
White House officials and their Chinese counterparts have spent weeks negotiating out all of the details of the meeting, which is taking place at Xi’s hotel with translators providing simultaneous interpretation through headsets.
U.S. officials were eager to see how Xi approaches the Biden sit-down after being newly empowered with a tradition-breaking third term and consolidating his position as the unquestioned leader of the state, saying they would wait to assess whether that made him more or less likely to seek out areas of cooperation with the U.S.
Biden and Xi are each planning to bring small delegations into the discussion, with U.S. officials expecting that Xi would bring newly-elevated government officials to the sit-down and expressing hope that it could lead to more substantive engagements down the line.
Before meeting with Xi, Biden first held a sit-down with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who is hosting the G-20 summit, to announce a range of new development initiatives for the archipelago nation, including investments in climate, security, and education.
Many of Biden’s conversations and engagements during his three-country tour — which took him to Egypt and Cambodia before he landed on the island of Bali on Sunday — were, by design, preparing him for his meeting with Xi and sending a signal that the U.S. would compete in areas where Xi has also worked to expand his country’s influence.
Chinese President led a new lineup of top Communist Party officials, confirming he has secured a third term as China’s leader after a week-long congress..reports Asian Lite News
President Xi Jinping secured a third term as China’s leader on October 23, 2022, state media reported, after a week-long congress in which he cemented his control over the ruling Communist Party.
Xi Jinping was also reappointed head of China’s military, after being handed a historic third term leading the country.
Xi was elected at the first plenary session of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th Central Committee, Xinhua reported, adding he “was also named chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission at the session”
Xi leads new lineup
The Chinese President led a new lineup of top Communist Party officials, confirming he has secured a third term as China’s leader after a week-long congress.
Xi walked at the head of the group at the presentation event for the CCP’s seven-member Standing Committee, a position reserved for the party’s general secretary
Xi vows to ‘work diligently’
The Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to “work diligently” after securing a historic third term as China’s leader.
“I wish to thank the whole Party sincerely for the trust you have placed in us,” he told journalists at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, promising to “work diligently in the performance of our duties to prove worthy of the great trust of our Party and our people.”
Xi promotes top aides, loyalists
Xi promoted some of his closest allies into the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power in the ruling Communist Party.
Shanghai Party boss Li Qiang, close aide Ding Xuexiang and Guangdong Party chief Li Xi were among the new lineup, state media reported from Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
Vows great ‘miracles’
The Communist Party of China (CPC) is fully confident and capable of creating new and even greater miracles on the new journey of the new era, Xi Jinping said as the 20th CPC National Congress came to a conclusion Saturday.
The CPC congress has realized its goals of unifying thinking, fortifying confidence, charting the course and boosting morale, Xi told 2,338 delegates and specially invited delegates present at the closing session of the weeklong congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. “This has been a congress of holding our banner high, pooling our strength, and promoting solidarity and dedication.”
At the closing session presided over by Xi, the congress elected a new CPC Central Committee, with 205 members and 171 alternate members, and a new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) consisting of 133 members.
The congress passed a resolution on the report of the 19th CPC Central Committee, a resolution on the work report of the 19th CCDI, and a resolution on an amendment to the CPC Constitution.
The report of the 19th CPC Central Committee charts the course and establishes a guide to action for the new journey for advancing the cause of the Party and the country in the new era and for realizing the Second Centenary Goal, Xi said.
Hailing the report “a guiding Marxist document,” Xi said it is a political declaration and a program of action for the CPC to rally and lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in securing new victories for socialism with Chinese characteristics.
The CCDI work report underscores the significance of using the Party’s own transformation to steer social transformation, and declares the Party’s firm resolve to keep improving conduct, promoting integrity and fighting corruption with sober-minded determination to make this an unceasing endeavor, Xi said.
On the revised CPC Constitution, which came into effect as of the date of adoption, Xi said it encapsulates the theoretical, practical and institutional innovations made by the Party.
The revised CPC Constitution sets out clear requirements for upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership, promoting the Party’s full and rigorous self-governance, continuing and improving Party building, and advancing the Party’s self-reform, he said.
The new developments in Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era since the 19th CPC National Congress have been incorporated into the Party Constitution.
Advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization has been designated as the central task of the Party on the new journey of the new era at the 20th CPC National Congress. This central task has been included in the revised Party Constitution.
Also added to the Party Constitution are statements on gradually realizing the goal of common prosperity for all, pursuing high-quality development, developing a broader, fuller and more robust whole-process people’s democracy, elevating the people’s armed forces to world-class standards, resolutely implementing the policy of One Country, Two Systems, and resolutely opposing and deterring separatists seeking “Taiwan independence.”
Holding dear humanity’s shared values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom was also included in the Party Constitution.
On the newly elected CPC Central Committee, Xi said it is a broadly representative and well-structured body with highly qualified members who meet the standards for Central Committee membership, match the expectations of ordinary officials and the general public, and reflect the realities of the Party’s leadership teams and contingent of officials.
India will host the summit in 2023, which would initiate the process of Iran becoming a full member of the eight-nation influential grouping…reports Asian Lite News
Chinese President Xi Jingping today extended his good wishes to India on taking over the chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, adding that Beijing will support New Delhi in organising the summit next year.
India will host the summit in 2023, which would initiate the process of Iran becoming a full member of the eight-nation influential grouping.
Launched in Shanghai in June 2001, the SCO has eight full members, including its six founding members, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined as full members in 2017.
PM pushes for ‘transit rights’
Members should grant each other transit rights to ensure better connectivity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while addressing the 22nd regional summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan today. He said better connectivity is needed in the regional grouping as there was a global food and energy crisis after global supply chains were affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
“The SCO needs to focus on bringing diversified and resilient supply chains…for this, better connectivity and access to transit is required,” PM Modi said, adding that India supports mutual trust and cooperation among SCO countries.
The PM said the innovative use of technology is being focused on in our people-centric development model, and India is ready to collaborate with SCO nations.
PM, At SCO Summit, Pushes For ‘Transit Rights’ Among Member States
SCO Summit: PM Modi said India supports mutual trust and cooperation among SCO countries.
New Delhi: Members should grant each other transit rights to ensure better connectivity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while addressing the 22nd regional summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan today. He said better connectivity is needed in the regional grouping as there was a global food and energy crisis after global supply chains were affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
“The SCO needs to focus on bringing diversified and resilient supply chains…for this, better connectivity and access to transit is required,” PM Modi said, adding that India supports mutual trust and cooperation among SCO countries.
The PM said the innovative use of technology is being focused on in our people-centric development model, and India is ready to collaborate with SCO nations.
“We are working towards transforming India into a manufacturing hub…We are supporting innovation in every sector. Today there are more than 70,000 start-ups and over 100 unicorns in our country,” he said.
On tackling the challenges of food security, he spoke of India’s efforts to popularise millets as an alternative and cheap option.
He also appealed for collaboration on traditional medicine. “India is one of the most economical countries in the world for medical and wellness tourism… We should enhance cooperation between SCO countries for traditional medicine,” he said.
PM Modi later summarised his five-minute remark in a tweet along with pictures from the summit.
“At the SCO Summit in Samarkand, emphasised on the constructive role SCO can play in the post-COVID era particularly in furthering economic recovery and strengthening supply chains. Highlighted India’s emphasis on people-centric growth which also gives importance to technology,” he said.
“At the SCO Summit, also emphasised on tackling the challenge of food security. In this context, also talked about India’s efforts to further popularise millets. SCO can play a big role in marking 2023 as International Year of Millets,” he added in another tweet.
PM, Xi skip informal dinner
In fact, despite being at Samarkand, Xi Jingping was not seen in any of the videos shared by the hosts as the heads of council went on a tour of the Eternal city. The Eternal city is part of the New Tourist Complex – the venue of the SCO summit.
In the videos, Russian President Vladimir Putin can be seen walking right in front along with the host, Uzbekistan President Shavket Mirziyoyev.
Earlier, Modi and Xi skipped the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) pre-summit group events on Thursday, including the formal dinner. PM Modi was among the last leaders to arrive at Samarkand, ruling out his participation in the pre-summit events.
Neither of the two world leaders were seen in the photograph of leaders after the informal dinner, released late night on Thursday.
The meeting was part of Xi’s first trip abroad since the early days of the pandemic. For Putin, it was a chance to show Russia has not been fully isolated despite Western efforts…reports Asian Lite News
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met for their first face-to-face talks since the start of the conflict in Ukraine on Thursday, hailing their strategic ties in defiance of the West.
Sitting across from each other at two long rounded tables and flanked by aides, the two leaders met on the sidelines of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in ex-Soviet Uzbekistan.
The meeting was part of Xi’s first trip abroad since the early days of the pandemic. For Putin, it was a chance to show Russia has not been fully isolated despite Western efforts.
“China is willing to make efforts with Russia to assume the role of great powers, and play a guiding role to inject stability and positive energy into a world rocked by social turmoil,” Xi told Putin at the talks.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV also quoted Xi as saying China was willing to work with Russia to support “each other’s core interests.”
Xi also met his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met on the sidelines of the summit on Friday, urging “political mutual trust” between the two sides during a regional security meeting in Central Asia.
Turkey is a dialogue partner of the SCO.
“The two sides should consolidate political mutual trust, respect each other’s core interests and consolidate the political foundation of China-Turkey strategic cooperative relations,” Xi said, according to CCTV.
“We should focus on development cooperation (and) give full play to the role of various cooperation mechanisms and respective strengths between the two countries,” China’s leader was reported as saying.
Putin meanwhile took a clear broadside at the United States, which has been leading efforts to support Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia.
“Attempts to create a unipolar world have recently acquired an absolutely ugly form and are completely unacceptable,” Putin said.
“We highly appreciate the balanced position of our Chinese friends in connection with the Ukrainian crisis,” Putin told Xi, while reiterating Moscow’s backing for China on Taiwan.
“We adhere to the principle of one China. We condemn the provocation of the US and their satellites in the Taiwan Strait,” Putin said, after a US Senate committee on Wednesday took the first step toward Washington directly providing billions of dollars in military aid to Taiwan.
It was the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since Putin saw Xi in early February for the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, days before the Russian leader launched the military offensive in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has touted the SCO summit in the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand as showing there is an “alternative” to Western-dominated international institutions.
The SCO — made up of China, India, Pakistan, Russia and the ex-Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — was set up in 2001 as a political, economic and security organization to rival Western institutions.
Putin met the leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan earlier Thursday, as well as with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
With both Raisi and Sharif he said ties were “developing positively,” while the Iranian leader told Putin that US-backed sanctions on both countries would only make their relationship “stronger.”
“The Americans think whichever country they impose sanctions on, it will be stopped. Their perception is a wrong one,” Raisi said.
For Putin, the summit comes at an important time, as his forces face major battlefield setbacks in Ukraine and amid a continued Western push to make Russia an international pariah.
For Xi, it is an opportunity to shore up his credentials as a global statesman ahead of a pivotal congress of the ruling Communist Party in October.
The Chinese leader also met Thursday with Belarus’s strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko, who was quoted by state news agency Belta as thanking Xi for China’s “serious support in these difficult times.”
Lukashenko has been shunned by Western leaders after a fierce crackdown on the opposition two years ago and for backing Russia on Ukraine.
Chinese state media said Xi would also meet Erdogan on Friday.
Formerly Cold War allies with a tempestuous relationship, China and Russia have drawn closer in recent years as part of what they call a “no-limits” relationship acting as a counterweight to the global dominance of the United States.
The two countries have also stepped up military cooperation, with China sending hundreds of troops to take part in military exercises last month in Russia’s far east.
The defense ministry in Moscow said Thursday that Russian and Chinese warships were on a joint patrol in the Pacific and planning a live-fire artillery exercise at sea.
Other global leaders sounded alarm about deepening ties between Moscow and Beijing.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said China and Russia “share a vision for the world that is starkly at odds with the vision that’s at the center of the international system, the vision that has been at the center of the international system for the past eight decades.”
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said the two countries were inflicting harm on “international peace, stability, democracy and freedom.”
Putin was also set to hold talks Friday with Erdogan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Security was tight in Samarkand — a city of grand tiled mosques that was one of the hubs of Silk Road trade routes between China and Europe — with a huge police presence on the streets and armored vehicles parked downtown.
Also in the agenda are SCO’s activities and its role in international affairs and among bilateral topics, Ushakov cited the development of trade and economic cooperation…reports Asian Lite News
The Kremlin has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will discuss the Ukraine war and other “current international problems” at this week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
In a statement on Tuesday, Kremlin foreign policy spokesman Yury Ushakov said: “Bearing in mind the specifics of the current international situation, this meeting, naturally, has a special importance… The leaders are planned to discuss both the bilateral agenda and key regional and international topics.”
According to Ushakov, the meeting between Xi and Putin is a “long-awaited personal contact”, the second one over the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, reports TASS News Agency.
The first personal meeting between the two leaders took place in Beijing, when Putin attended the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in February this year.
The spokesman anticipated that Putin and Xi “will give a positive assessment to the unprecedented high level of the trust-based bilateral strategic partnership” between Russia and China.
Also in the agenda are SCO’s activities and its role in international affairs and among bilateral topics, Ushakov cited the development of trade and economic cooperation.
“In the current difficult situation, amid the Western sanctions, this cooperation is demonstrating sustainability and continues to develop and gain momentum,” TASS News Agency quoted Ushakov as saying.
On the sidelines of the summit, which will run from Thursday to Friday, Putin is also scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
According to Ushakov, Putin and Modi will discuss Russian-Indian cooperation within the UN and G20.
“A conversation on international agenda with Modi will also take place, the sides will discuss issues of strategic stability, the situation in the Asia Pacific Region, and, of course, cooperation within major multilateral formats, such as the UN, the G20 and the SCO,” the spokesman said.
“This is particularly important, because India will preside in the UN Security Council in December, and, in 2023, India will lead the SCO and will also chair the G20.”
The SCO Summit will be Xi’s first foreign visit after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.
Last time he left China was in January 2020 when he visited Myanmar, just days before the first lockdown came into effect in Wuhan, the BBC reported.
He has remained in China since then, leaving the mainland only once in July this year to visit Hong Kong.
