NEW DELHI (AP) — President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the Russian people were “united as never before” as he sought to project confidence following a short-lived uprising, during a meeting of a rare international organization where he can find a sympathetic audience.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, hosted by video conference by India, was Putin’s first multilateral summit since an armed rebellion rocked Russia and comes as he is eager to show that the West failed to isolate Moscow during its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The Asian security group, founded by Russia and China to counter Western alliances, also welcomed Iran as a new member, expanding its membership to nine nations.
Speaking via video link from the Kremlin, Putin praised the organization for “playing an increasingly important role in international affairs, making a real contribution to maintaining peace and stability, ensuring sustainable economic growth of participating States and to strengthen ties between peoples”.
He thanked member states for their support for the Russian authorities during the short-lived armed mutiny organized by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, and said the West had turned Ukraine into “a practically hostile state – anti- Russia”. Putin has frequently criticized the West for supporting Ukraine during the war.
The summit is an opportunity for Putin to show he is in charge after an insurgency that has left some wondering about divisions among Russia’s elites.
“The Russian people are united like never before,” he said. “Solidarity and responsibility for the fate of the fatherland have been clearly demonstrated by Russian political circles and society as a whole by standing in a united front against the attempted armed rebellion.”
Previous speakers have avoided direct references to war, while lamenting its global consequences.
In his opening speech, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned of global challenges to food, fuel and fertilizer supplies, but did not mention the war in Ukraine. Trade in all three countries was disrupted by the war.
He also delivered a veiled blow to Pakistan, saying the group should not shy away from criticizing countries that “use terrorism as an instrument of its state policy”.
“Terrorism poses a threat to regional peace and we must fight together,” Modi said without naming Pakistan. India regularly accuses Pakistan of training and arming insurgent groups, a charge Islamabad denies.
In his speech, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced terrorism and defended his country’s role in the fight against it.
“While the sacrifices made by Pakistan in the fight against terrorism are unparalleled, this scourge continues to plague our region and remains a serious obstacle to the maintenance of peace and stability,” Sharif said. “Any temptation to use it as a cudgel to score diplomatic points should be avoided.”
Sharif also hailed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, saying it could be “a game-changer for connectivity, stability, peace and prosperity in the region”.
The 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 joined in 2017. Belarus is also in the running for membership.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said “the benefits of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s formal membership in the SCO will be historic.”
Raisi’s speech, quoted by Iranian news agency IRNA, did not mention the war in Ukraine, but said Iran believed the SCO was in a privileged position to promote political and economic cooperation.
Raisi expressed hope that Iran’s membership would set the stage for improving collective security, respect for the sovereignty of member countries, sustainable development and the fight against environmental threats, IRNA said.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a message that the summit was taking place against a backdrop of growing global challenges and risks.
“But at a time when the world must work together, divisions are growing and geopolitical tensions are rising,” he said.
“These differences have been compounded by several factors: divergent approaches to global crises; contrasting views on non-traditional security threats; and, of course, the consequences of COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called on members to work for “long-term peace and stability in the region”, according to a reading of his speech published by state broadcaster CCTV.
He said China wanted to “better synergize” the country’s Belt and Road Initiative – a trillion-dollar infrastructure investment project criticized in the West for burdening smaller countries with debt – with the development strategies and regional cooperation initiatives of other nations.
A few days after returning from a high-level visit to the United States, Modi had a phone conversation with Putin on Friday about recent developments in Russia, India’s External Affairs Ministry said.
Modi reiterated calls for dialogue and diplomacy between Russia and Ukraine, ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said.
India avoided condemning Russia for its war against Ukraine and refrained from voting on UN resolutions against Russia.
When SCO foreign ministers met in India last month, Russia’s war in Ukraine barely figured in their public remarks, but analysts say the fallout for developing countries on food security and energy remain a concern for the members of the group.
Even if the SCO continues to expand, the grouping remains exposed to the risk of competing interests or conflicts between member states.
India and Pakistan share a history of bitter relations, mostly over Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region that is divided between them but claimed by both in its entirety, and they have fought two wars over it.
Meanwhile, New Delhi and Beijing are locked in a three-year standoff between thousands of troops stationed along their disputed border in the eastern region of Ladakh.
And the SCO summit came as Moscow leans more heavily on Beijing as its war in Ukraine drags on. That could irritate New Delhi in the long run and complicate its relationship with Cold War ally Russia.
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Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Dasha Litvinova in Talinn, Estonia, and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran contributed to this report.