BEIJING — A security summit between Russia, China and their Central Asian neighbors wrapped up in Beijing on Wednesday with vague promises to deepen economic cooperation but no public mention of regional flash points like Afghanistan.
Premier Wen Jiabao, speaking live on state television after the signing of a series of agreements, also made no mention of a June offer by President Hu Jintao for $10 billion of credit support to Central Asia to help fight the financial crisis.
Wen said after the closed-door discussions that participants drafted measures “to strengthen multilateral economic cooperation, handle the global financial crisis and ensure economic development.”
He made no public mention of looming regional security issues like Iran’s nuclear program and violence in Afghanistan, with which China and several Central Asian nations share borders.
Afghanistan’s Taliban urged SCO members, in a letter posted on a web site, to help the radical Islamists “liberate” the country from U.S. troops.
Separately, Russia and China signed a pact to notify each other of ballistic missile launch plans during Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit this week to Beijing, Chinese media said Wednesday. Washington and Moscow agreed in 1971 to notify each other of ballistic missile launches extending beyond their countries’ territories, and expanded on that in 2000. Chinese media said Tuesday that the Chinese-Russian accord differed from the U.S.-Russian “offensive agreement,” but did not elaborate.
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