Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping praised the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Wednesday as a force for global stability. This came during a summit of the regional organization that Moscow and Beijing view as a tool to counter Western influence. Putin and Xi expanded the organization, originally founded in 2001 by Russia, China, and Central Asian countries, to include India, Iran, and Pakistan as a counterweight to the West.
Putin stated, "The organization has firmly established itself as one of the key pillars of a fair and multipolar world," noting that relations between Moscow and Beijing are at their best in history. He added, "Our cooperation is not directed against anyone, nor do we create any blocs or alliances; we only work for the benefit of our peoples."
In his opening remarks, Xi told Putin that China and Russia must "uphold the original aspiration of friendship across generations" in response to the "constantly changing international situation." Xi described Putin as an "old friend" and pointed to the progress made by the two countries in formulating "plans and arrangements for the next development in bilateral relations."
The Kremlin reported that Putin held a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the SCO summit taking place in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, which will conclude its meetings tomorrow, Thursday. The SCO is focused on developing joint approaches to external security threats such as drug trafficking and is also concentrated on countering any internal instability.
Before meeting Xi, Putin also met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh. India announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is expected to visit Moscow later this month, will not attend the Nur-Sultan meeting and will be represented by Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
China and Russia declared a "no-limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing days before sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. Since then, Xi and Putin have been working to strengthen their relations. Both believe that the post-Cold War era dominated by the United States is coming to an end. The United States sees China as its largest competitor and views Russia as the biggest threat. U.S. President Joe Biden has stated that this century will witness an existential competition between democratic and authoritarian systems.
