NEW DELHI, 4 Jul: President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the Russian people were \u201cunited as never before,\u201d as he sought to project confidence in the wake of a short-lived revolt, at a meeting of a rare international organization where he can find a sympathetic audience.
\nThe Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, hosted via videoconference by India, was Putin\u2019s first multilateral summit since an armed rebellion rattled Russia and comes as he is eager to show that the West has failed to isolate Moscow over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
\nThe Asian security grouping, founded by Russia and China to counter Western alliances, also welcomed Iran as a new member, bringing its membership to nine nations.
\nSpeaking by video link from the Kremlin, Putin praised the organization for \u201cplaying an increasingly significant role in international affairs, making a real contribution to maintaining peace and stability, ensuring sustainable economic growth of the participating states, and strengthening ties between peoples.\u201d
\nHe thanked the member states for supporting Russian authorities during the short-lived armed mutiny mounted by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, and said the West had turned Ukraine into \u201ca virtually hostile state \u2014 anti-Russia.\u201d Putin has frequently lashed out at the West for its support of Ukraine in the war.
\nThe summit presents an opportunity for Putin to show that he\u2019s in control after an insurrection that left some wondering about divisions among Russian elites.
\n\u201cThe Russian people are united as never before,\u201d he said. \u201cThe solidarity and responsibility for the fate of the fatherland was clearly demonstrated by the Russian political circles and the entire society by standing as a united front against the attempted armed rebellion.\u201d
\nEarlier speakers avoided directed references to the war, while bemoaning its global consequences.
\nIn his opening speech, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned of global challenges to food, fuel and fertilizer supplies but didn\u2019t mention the war in Ukraine. Trade in all three has been disrupted by the war.
\nHe also took a veiled swipe at Pakistan, saying the group shouldn\u2019t hesitate to criticize countries that are \u201cusing terrorism as an instrument of its state policy.\u201d
\n\u201cTerrorism poses a threat to regional peace and we need to take up a joint fight,\u201d Modi said without naming Pakistan. India regularly accuses Pakistan of training and arming insurgent groups, a charge that Islamabad denies.
\nIn his speech, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced terrorism and defended his country\u2019s role in the fight against it.
\n\u201cWhile the sacrifices made by Pakistan in fighting terrorism are without parallel, this scourge continues to plague our region and remains a serious obstacle to the maintenance of peace and stability,\u201d Sharif said. \u201cAny temptation to use it as a cudgel for diplomatic point scoring must be eschewed.\u201d
\nSharif also hailed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, part of China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative, saying it could be a \u201cgame changer for connectivity, stability, peace and prosperity in the region.\u201d
\nThe SCO also includes the four Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, all former Soviet republics in which Russian influence runs deep. India and Pakistan became members in 2017. Belarus is also in line for membership.
\nIranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that \u201cthe benefits of the official membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the SCO will be historic.\u201d
\nRaisi\u2019s speech, cited by the Iranian news agency IRNA, didn\u2019t mention the war in Ukraine, but said that Iran believed that the SCO is in a prime position to promote political and economic cooperation.
\nRaisi expressed the hope that Iran\u2019s member-ship would prepare the ground for improving collective security, respect for the sovereignty of member nations, sustain-able development, and confronting environmental threats, IRNA said.
\nU.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said in a message that the summit was taking place amid growing global challenges and risks.
\n\u201cBut at a time when the world needs to work together, divisions are growing, and geopolitical tensions are rising,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThese differences have been aggravated by several factors: diverging approaches to global crises; contrasting views on nontraditional security threats; and, of course, the consequences of COVID-19 and Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine,\u201d he said.
\nChinese President Xi Jinping called on members to work toward \u201clong-term peace and stability in the region,\u201d according to a readout of his speech posted by state broadcaster CCTV.
\nHe said that China wants to \u201cbetter synergize\u201d the country\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative \u2014 a trillion-dollar infrastructure investment project criticized in the West for burdening smaller countries with large amounts of debt \u2014 with other nations\u2019 own development strategies and regional cooperation initiatives.
\nDays after his return from a high-profile visit to the United States, Modi on Friday had a telephone conversation with Putin about recent developments in Russia, India\u2019s External Affairs Ministry said.
\nModi reiterated calls for dialogue and diplomacy between Russia and Ukraine, ministry spokes-man Arindam Bagchi said.
\nIndia has avoided condemning Russia for its war on Ukraine and abstained from voting on U.N. resolutions against Russia.
\nWhen SCO foreign ministers met in India last month, Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine barely featured in their public remarks, but analysts say the fallout for developing countries on food and fuel security remains a concern for members of the group.
\nEven as the SCO continues to expand, the grouping remains at risk of competing interests or conflicts between member states.
\nIndia and Pakistan share a history of bitter relations, mainly over Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region that is split between them but claimed by both in its entirety, and they have fought two wars over it.
\nMeanwhile, New Delhi and Beijing are locked in a three-year standoff of thousands of soldiers stationed along their disputed border in the eastern Ladakh region.
\nAnd the SCO summit took place as Moscow relies more deeply on Beijing as its war in Ukraine drags on. This could irk New Delhi in the long run and complicate its relationship with Cold War ally Russia. (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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