Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday held a trilateral
summit meeting, the first of its kind among the three
countries.
The summit was held after the conclusion of the outreach session
of the G8 summit in St. Petersburg. The three leaders exchanged
views on cooperation among the three countries, according to
Chinese officials.
At the summit, Hu said the three countries with established
bilateral strategic partnerships among them, have vital influence
on international and regional affairs.
There is a great potential for the three countries to cooperate
in a number of fields such as economy, energy, science and
technology, Hu said.
"We should make full use of these advantages to deepen the
strategic cooperation among us," Hu was quoted as saying by Chinese
officials.
Hu highlighted important features of their relationship and put
forward proposals for boosting trilateral cooperation,
including:
-
to make full use of the mechanism of trilateral foreign
ministers' meeting and push forward practical cooperation;
-
to enhance communication and coordination on major
international and regional issues, uphold multilateralism and push
forward the approach of resolving disputes through negotiation and
dialogue;
-
the trilateral cooperation is aimed at enhancing friendship,
seeking common development and safeguarding world and regional
peace.
Putin said that Russia, China and India share similar views on
and interests in major international and regional issues. Further,
the three nations support the multilateral framework and they have
good bilateral relations.
Enhancing trilateral cooperation would not only facilitate the
settlement of some international and regional issues, but also help
to promote domestic economic development in the three countries,
Putin added.
Singh said the three nations should make concerted efforts to
enhance their trilateral cooperation, for the benefit of their
peoples as well as to contribute to peace and development in the
region and the world.
The three leaders also exchanged views on the situation in the
Asia-Pacific region, their cooperation on fighting terrorism and
cracking down on cross-border crimes.
During another meeting between Hu and Putin, the two leaders
exchanged views on deepening bilateral ties as well as major
international and regional issues.
Hu congratulated Putin on successfully hosting the outreach
session of the G8 summit, saying that the meeting is of crucial
significance to the facilitation of relations between developed and
developing countries, promotion of multilateralism and in tackling
common global challenges.
Putin said Hu had contributed a lot to the outreach session of
the G8 summit, adding that Hu's participation is of great
importance to the summit.
Hu and Putin called for more cooperation in energy between the
two countries.
The two presidents also discussed the Korean Peninsula nuclear
issue, calling for an early resumption of six-party talks.
According to Chinese officials, after the outreach session, Hu
on Monday afternoon also met with French President Jacques Chirac,
and newly elected Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2006)