Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Tuesday for efforts to safeguard “regional peace” and said Beijing would “oppose protectionism” as he addressed a virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Xi “called for efforts to safeguard regional peace and ensure common security,” state news agency Xinhua reported. “Achieving long-term regional peace and stability is our common responsibility,” CCTV quoted him as saying. Xi said China would “persist in the correct direction of economic globalization, oppose protectionism, unilateral sanctions and extension of national security concepts.” The Chinese leader also pledged to “promote political solutions to pressing international and regional issues, building a firm regional security barrier,” CCTV said.

The eight-member SCO is headquartered in Beijing, but the virtual summit is being hosted by India -- which holds its rotating chair -- with the leaders of Russia, Pakistan, and several Central Asian countries also participating. Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the summit -- his first since a short-lived mutiny last month led by the head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. China and Russia have in recent years ramped up economiccooperation and diplomatic contacts, with their strategic partnership having only grown closer since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. According to Xinhua,  the President Xi said, " At this meeting, we are going to welcome Iran as a full member and sign the memorandum of obligations on the membership of Belarus.

This will manifest the vitality of our SCO family. I offer my congratulations to the two countries. Ten years ago, in view of the changes of the world, of our times and of the trajectory of history, I opined that mankind, living in the same global village, are increasingly becoming a community with a shared future in which everyone’s interest is closely interlinked. Since then, the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind has gained extensive recognition and support from the international community, and has been transforming from an idea to action and a vision to reality. At the forefront of this trend is the SCO, upholding this very concept and the Shanghai Spirit to build an SCO community with a shared future.

-We have followed our fine tradition of standing together through thick and thin, as passengers in the same boat should do, and we have firmly supported each other in standing up for our respective core interests. We have become trustworthy partners on our paths to development and national rejuvenation.

—We have acted out the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, accommodated each other’s legitimate security concerns, and responded to both traditional and nontraditional security challenges. Together we have safeguarded peace and tranquility in the region, and fostered a favorable environment for countries in the region to pursue development and prosperity.

—We have embraced the development philosophy of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared growth, synergized our national development strategies and regional cooperation initiatives, and nurtured new growth areas for our cooperation in economy and trade, connectivity, energy, agriculture, finance, and innovation. This has helped promote coordination in our economic development.

—We have carried forward the spirit of good-neighborliness, and advocated equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness between civilizations. We have called for peaceful coexistence and harmonious development of different civilizations, and expanded people-to-people and cultural cooperation. We have enhanced the popular support for our state-to-state relations.

—We have upheld international fairness and justice, and opposed hegemonic, high-handed, and bullying acts. We have enlarged the circle of friends of our Organization, and built partnerships featuring dialogue instead of confrontation, cooperation instead of alliance. This has strengthened the progressive forces for world peace and stability.

The world today is undergoing both transformation and upheaval; changes unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace; human society faces unprecedented challenges. Unity or split, peace or conflict, cooperation or confrontation—these are the questions raised again by our times. My answer is this: the people’s wish for a happy life is our goal, and peace, development and win-win cooperation are the unstoppable trends of the times.

The SCO has been growing stronger in recent years. This means development opportunities as well as unprecedented risks and challenges. As the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore put it, “The sea of danger, doubt and denial around man’s little island of certainty challenges him to dare the unknown.” We must rise to the call of our times, keep in mind our founding mission, and stay in unity and coordination to bring more certainty and positive energy to world peace and development. To this end, I wish to make the following proposals:

First, we should keep to the right direction and enhance solidarity and mutual trust. Since its founding over 20 years ago, the SCO has withstood the test of the changing international landscape, and kept moving in the right direction of promoting solidarity, mutual trust, development and cooperation. We have accumulated valuable experience, and achieved hard-won development gains. Facts have shown that as long as we bear in mind the larger picture, shoulder our responsibilities and remain undisturbed by all sorts of distractions, we will be able to protect and promote the security and development interests of our member states.

We should step up strategic communication and coordination, bridge differences through dialogue, and replace competition with cooperation. We should truly respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, and firmly support each other’s endeavor for development and rejuvenation. We should keep in mind the overall and long-term interests of our region, and make our foreign policies independently. We must be highly vigilant against external attempts to foment a new Cold War or camp-based confrontation in our region. We must resolutely reject any interference in our internal affairs and the instigation of “color revolutions” by any country under whatever pretext. The future of our development must be held firmly in our own hands.

Second, we should maintain regional peace and safeguard common security. Sustaining peace and security in this region is our common responsibility. China stands ready to work with all sides to implement the Global Security Initiative, promote the settlement of international disputes through dialogue and consultation, and encourage political settlement of international and regional hotspots, so as to forge a solid security shield in our region.

We need to upgrade SCO security cooperation, and continue to conduct joint operations. We should crack down hard on the forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism such as the “East Turkistan” elements, drug trafficking, and cyber and transnational organized crimes. We should move faster to strengthen the mechanisms for our law enforcement and security cooperation, and expand cooperation in the nontraditional security fields, including digital, biological and outer space security. We should continue to utilize platforms such as the mechanism of coordination and cooperation among Afghanistan’s neighbors to increase humanitarian support to Afghanistan, and encourage the Afghan authorities to establish a broad-based and inclusive political structure and embark on the path of peace and reconstruction.

Third, we should focus on practical cooperation and expedite economic recovery. Promoting economic growth is a common task for all countries in the region. China stands ready to work with all sides to implement the Global Development Initiative, keep to the right direction of economic globalization, oppose protectionism, unilateral sanctions and the overstretching of national security, and reject the moves of setting up barriers, decoupling and severing supply chains. We should make the pie of win-win cooperation bigger, and ensure that more development gains will be shared more fairly by people across the world.

We need to enhance the connection of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with development strategies of various countries and regional cooperation initiatives. We should further promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, speed up the development of port infrastructure and regional and international logistic corridors, and ensure stable and smooth functioning of regional industrial and supply chains. Ten years ago I proposed the Belt and Road Initiative, and on its tenth anniversary, China will hold the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. I welcome your participation. We should work together to broaden the Belt and Road as a “path of happiness” benefiting the whole world.

China proposes that the SCO scale up local currency settlement between member states, expand cooperation on sovereign digital currency, and promote the establishment of an SCO development bank. China is ready to share market opportunities and development experience, and implement the capacity-building program to empower young professional farmers. China will carry out digital technology training programs in collaboration with the China-SCO Big Data Cooperation Center, and host an SCO national green development forum.

There are already a number of ministerial meeting mechanisms under the SCO framework for practical cooperation in various areas. China has also established cooperation platforms such as the local economic and trade cooperation demonstration area, and the demonstration base for agricultural technology exchange and training. We should make full use of these mechanisms and platforms to help us tackle the vexing issues in our practical cooperation and facilitate high-quality development of SCO economies.

Fourth, we should strengthen exchanges and mutual learning and forge closer bonds between our peoples. All nations in the region aspire to see harmonious development of different civilizations. We welcome all sides to work together to implement the Global Civilization Initiative, promote inclusiveness and coexistence among all civilizations, and increase mutual understanding and friendship among all nations.

We should further deepen cooperation in education, science and technology, culture, health, sport and media, support the work of non-official organizations such as the SCO Committee on Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, and organize more events for people-to-people exchanges. In the coming three years, China will provide SCO member states with 1,000 International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarships, offer 3,000 “Chinese Bridge” summer camp opportunities, and invite 100 young scientists to China for scientific research exchanges. China will also host events on rural revitalization and climate response. Your participation will be most welcome. Fifth, we should practice multilateralism and improve global governance.

All countries in the region pursue fairness and justice. We should advocate the common values of humanity, uphold the UN-centered international system and the international order based on international law, and oppose hegemonism and power politics. We should make global governance more just and equitable, and advance modernization of the entire humanity through collective efforts to promote equal rights, equal opportunities and fair rules for all. We should support more SCO engagements with observer states, dialogue partners and other regional and international organizations such as the UN, and jointly promote world peace, drive global development and safeguard the international order.

The Chinese people are rallied behind the Communist Party of China to pursue Chinese modernization. It is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development. With these main attributes, it has created a new form of human advancement. China hopes to share new development opportunities with SCO members and all countries around the world through its achievements in modernization, and together make the world a better place.

China congratulates President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on assuming the presidency of the Council of Heads of State, and will work with all member states to actively support Kazakhstan’s presidency. A just cause finds great support, and a journey with many companions gets far. The SCO’s development accords with the trend of our times and goes along with the direction of human progress. Through our joint efforts, it will definitely grow from strength to strength."

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP