Xi, Putin challenge world order at regional summit

SAMARKAND, Sept 16 (AFP): Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for a shake-up of the world order as they met with Asian leaders Friday for a summit challenging Western influence.
The meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in ex-Soviet Uzbekistan brought Putin and Xi together with the leaders of SCO members India, Pakistan, and four Central Asian nations, as well as the presidents of Iran and Turkey.
Putin and Xi met on Thursday for their first face-to-face talks since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, and on the Chinese leader's first trip abroad since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
The summit has been put forward as an alternative to "Western-centric organisations", at a time of increasing pressure on Moscow over Ukraine and growing anger in Beijing over US support for Taiwan.
Xi told leaders at the summit that it was time to reshape the international system and "abandon zero-sum games and bloc politics".
Leaders should "work together to promote the development of the international order in a more just and rational direction," Xi said.
Putin hailed the growing influence of countries outside the West, slamming what he called "instruments of protectionism, illegal sanctions and economic selfishness".
"The growing role of new centres of power who cooperate with each other... is becoming more and more clear," Putin said.
The summit has been Putin's first major international outing since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February, sparking a conflict that has left thousands dead and seen Russia hit with waves of economic sanctions.
Xi on Thursday said China was willing to work with Russia to support "each other's core interests", though Putin admitted that Beijing had "con
cerns" about the situation in Ukraine that he would address.
The SCO-which also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan-was set up in 2001 as a political, economic and security organisation to rival Western institutions.
In a sign that the bloc is far from fully united, clashes escalated along the borders of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on Friday, with both sides accusing the other of responsibility and of using heavy weapons.
Putin was due later Friday to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been a key broker in deals between Russia and Ukraine on issues like grain shipments.