Russian president Vladimir Putin arrived in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Sunday, Chinese and Russian state media reported, for a regional security summit that China hopes can counter western influence in global affairs.
For the rare four-day visit to Russia’s neighbour and largest trading partner, Mr Putin arrived to a red-carpet welcome, received on the tarmac by top-ranking city officials, a livestream of the event by Russia’s Tass showed.
Ties between China and Russia are at their “best in history”, having become the “most stable, mature and strategically significant among major countries”, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said in its report of the arrival.
President Xi Jinping will host about 20 world leaders in Tianjin, also including Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, at the two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the largest gathering since the group was established in 2001 among six Eurasian nations. Mr Xi met Mr Modi on Sunday on the sidelines of the summit.
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The security-focused bloc has expanded to 10 permanent members and 16 dialogue and observer countries in recent years. Its remit has enlarged from security and counter-terrorism to economic and military co-operation.
Mr Xi is expected to use the summit to showcase what a post-American-led international order would look like, while providing a high-profile diplomatic boost for Russia, hit by sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.
A day before his visit, Mr Putin blasted western sanctions in a written interview with China’s official Xinhua news agency, saying Moscow and Beijing jointly opposed “discriminatory” sanctions in global trade.
Russia’s economy is on the brink of recession, weighed by trade curbs and the cost of the war.
Leaders from central Asia, the Middle East, south Asia and southeast Asia will attend the summit in what China aims to portray as a powerful show of unity among the “Global South”, referring to developing and lower-income countries, mostly in the southern hemisphere.
“We are committed to progressing our relations based on mutual respect, trust and sensitivities,” Mr Modi told Mr Xi during their meeting on Sunday, according to a video clip posted on the Indian leader’s official X account.
The bilateral meeting took place five days after the US imposed punishing 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods due to New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil. Analysts say Mr Xi and Mr Modi are looking to present a united front against western pressure.
Modi said an atmosphere of “peace and stability” has been created on India and China’s disputed Himalayan border, the site of a prolonged military standoff after deadly troop clashes in 2020, which froze most areas of co-operation between the nuclear-armed strategic rivals.
He added that an agreement had been reached between both nations regarding border management, without giving details.
Direct flights between both nations, which have been suspended since 2020, are “being resumed”, Mr Modi added, without providing a time frame.
China had agreed to lift export curbs on rare earths, fertilisers and tunnel boring machines this month during a key visit to India by China’s foreign minister Wang Yi.
China opposes Washington’s steep tariffs on India and will “firmly stand with India,” Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong said this month.
In recent months, China has allowed Indian pilgrims to visit Buddhist sites in Tibet, and both countries have lifted reciprocal tourist visa restrictions. - Reuters
