SCO: Jinping mentioned the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and said - regional peace is the collective responsibility of all of us

Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting being hosted by India on Tuesday. During this, he asked the SCO member countries to shoulder the responsibility for regional peace and accelerate economic reforms. He also called upon the countries to focus on practical cooperation besides ensuring common security.

In his address, Xi also touched upon the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), his favorite multi-billion dollar project, and talked about regional cooperation initiatives of various countries.

The BRI is a multi-billion-dollar economic-corridor initiative launched by President Xi when he came to power in 2013. It aims to connect South East Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa, and Europe through a network of land and sea routes. The US$60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (BRI) is a major project.

However, India has lodged a strong protest with China regarding the CPEC as it is passing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). India is also critical of the BRI, which raised global concerns over China's debt diplomacy of doling out huge loans to smaller countries for unsustainable infrastructure projects.

According to the report, Xi also called for efforts to safeguard regional peace and ensure common security and strengthen exchanges and mutual learning among the SCO and promote closer people-to-people ties. The summit chaired by India was also attended by the leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and Iran.

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