In his speech at the SCO Summit on Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping promoted his nation’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), asserting that the infrastructure project would encourage regional commerce, investment, and collaboration, despite objections from the summit’s host India.

The BRI’s high-quality collaboration with various nations’ development objectives and regional cooperation projects should be better synchronised, Xi said. According to him, “the construction of port infrastructure and regional (and) international logistics channels” would be expedited by the BRI.

Due to “sovereignty concerns” about one of the BRI’s main projects, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which runs through Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, India, which joined the SCO in 2017 with Pakistan, has declined to participate. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated this point.

Additionally, Xi urged members of the alliance to work together to “achieve long-term peace and stability in the region” and to “safeguard regional peace” and “ensure common security.”

Without specifically mentioning the Russia-Ukraine crisis, he stated, “China is willing to work with all parties to implement global security initiatives, insist on resolving differences and conflicts.”

The Chinese leader made a point of emphasising the need for conversation and consultation in order to overcome disputes.

The Chinese leader blasted “unilateral sanctions” without mentioning any specific nations involved and added that China opposed “building walls and barriers,” “decoupling and breaking chains,” and “generalising the concept of national security.”

Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, attempted to criticise India for alleged breaches of minority rights while also inadvertently bringing up Kashmiris’ rights during his speech to the virtual summit.