Leaders of Russia, China attend summit of regional security grouping

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are attending the summit of a security grouping created by Moscow and Beijing to counter Western alliances. Putin and Xi joined the leaders of other countries that are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at its annual meeting in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana on Thursday. The grouping was established in 2001 by China, Russia and the four ex-Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to promote regional security and economic cooperation. It was later joined by India, Pakistan and Iran. Observer states and dialogue partners include Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.