China and Russia seek greater clout at summit
China and Russia sought greater international clout at a summit today, with China promising a multi-billion dollar loan to Central Asian countries, while Russia challenged the dominance of the US dollar as a global reserve currency.
Russia also gave a prominent platform to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad amid massive protests in Iran over his bitterly disputed re-election and questions in the West about the vote.
Chinese leader Hu Jintao said China will extend a $10bn loan to a regional group that also includes Russia and four Central Asian states.
The move adds muscle to China’s role in the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, a six-nation group Russia and China use to counter the Western influence in resource-rich, strategically placed Central Asia. The other members of the organisation Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The leaders of Afghanistan, Iran, India and Pakistan were also at the table, underscoring Russia and China’s reach for regional clout and global influence.
Hu said the loan was intended to shore up the struggling economies of its members amid the global financial crisis.
Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pushed his call for new global reserve currencies to complement the dollar at the summit in Yekaterinburg.
“No currency system can be successful if we have financial instruments denominated in just one currency,” Medvedev said. “We must strengthen the international financial system not only by making the dollar strong, but also by creating other reserve currencies.”
After wrapping up the two-day Shanghai Co-operation Organisation meetings, Medvedev was to host later today the first full-fledged summit of emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India and China, collectively called BRIC.
Meanwhile, the leaders of India and Pakistan have met on the sidelines of the summit. it was reported.
State-run RIA-Novosti and Interfax said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari held a bilateral meeting.
It is the first interaction between the two leaders since the terrorist attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai last November.
India accuses a Pakistan-based militant group of sending the teams of gunmen that rampaged through Mumbai in a three-day siege that left 166 people dead.
Pakistani officials have acknowledged the November attacks were partly plotted on their soil.
