The Maldives and China have always enjoyed a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship, which has reached to a historic level over the past few years, said the Vice President of the NGO, Maldives China Trade and Cultural Organization (MCTCO) Midhuam Saud. He told Xinhua in a recent interview that in the future, “with sky being the limit”, infinite possibilities lie in cooperation between the two countries.
The final tranche of US$ 584 million which China had to pay for taking the Hambantota Port on lease for 99 years was released by the China Merchant Port Holdings Limited (CM Port) on Wednesday. The cheque for the said amount was handed over to the Chairman of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), Dr.Parakrama Dissanayake, by the Chief Representative of China Merchant Group in Sri Lanka, Ray Ren in the presence of senior port officials and representatives of CM Port. This third final tranche amounting to US$ 584,194,800 follows the first and second tranches released in December last year and January 2018. The amounts were US$ 292 million and US $ 97 million respectively. With this payment CM Port fulfills the US $ 976 million investment value of the port in terms of the Concession Agreement.
At the very first Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit which it was attending as a full member, India stood out by being the only country in the eight member group, to refuse to endorse China’s prestigious global connectivity project – the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But while rejecting the BRI in toto because it violated India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the Gilgit-Baltistan area of Pakistan-held Kashmir, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said that his country is interested in promoting regional connectivity and is committed to making the SCO summit a success. Observers wonder how India plans to marry its total rejection of the BRI with its pledge to cooperate in SCO’s connectivity projects, points out P.K.Balachandran in South Asian Monitor.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has suggested to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that China and India should set up a new bilateral trade target of US$ 100 billion by 2020, as Beijing is looking at importing non-Basmati rice as well as sugar to address the huge trade deficit.The India-China bilateral trade reached USD 84.44 billion last year, according to data of the Chinese General Administration of Customs in March.
India was the only country in the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on June 10 which refused to endorse China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for which Beijing has signed pacts with nearly 80 countries and international organisations.A declaration issued at the end of the two-day summit of the SCO said Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have reaffirmed their support for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But India does not find mention. In India’s view the BRI has not recognized its territorial integrity and sovereignty in so far as the US$ 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is concerned.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday floated the concept of SECURE (‘S’ for security for citizens, ‘E’ for economic development, ‘C’ for connectivity in the region, ‘U’ for unity, ‘R’ for respect of sovereignty and integrity, and ‘E for environment protection), at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held here on June 9 and 10. Connectivity with the neighborhood and in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) region is India’s priority Modi said. India is committed to extending “full cooperation for a successful outcome of the Summit,” he added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) an US$ 4.7 billion (30 billion Yuan) Special Lending Facility within the framework of the SCO inter-bank consortium. This was among other major offers made by Xi at the end of the SCO summit held in the port city of Qingdao on June 9 and 10. The Chinese President said that the SCO should become a “powerful engine for development,” and added that the member states must “increase complementarities in development strategies” and decisions taken through mutual consultations.
In a passionate appeal for unity directed at a badly divided world, Chinese President Xi Jinping told members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to sideline their differences and work together for mutually beneficial common goals. Xi was speaking at the 18th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the SCO in the coastal city of Qingdao, in east China’s Shandong Province. The full members of the SCO are China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping gave visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin China’s first friendship medal on Friday, calling him his ”best and most intimate friend”, underscoring the close ties between the two despite deep reservations many Western nations have of Putin. Putin is in China for a weekend summit of the Chinese and Russian-led security bloc the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the port city of Qingdao, but dropped by Beijing first for talks with Xi.
Meeting in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Xi lauded their relationship.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed two agreements here on Saturday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. One is on the import of non-Basmati rice from India and the other is on the supply of hydrological data on the Brahmaputra river which flows from Tibet into India.