Xi Jinping pitches plan to set up SCO development bank amid US tariffs

Xi proposed the development of the bank during his opening remarks at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, which was attended by Indian PM Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In his speech, Xi expected cooperation to be enhanced in areas such as energy, infrastructure, green industry, digital economy, sci-tech innovation and artificial intelligence, as well as an SCO development bank to be established as soon as possible, reported Xinhua news agency.

To ensure better development of the SCO with real actions, Xi announced that China will provide 2 billion yuan (about 281 million U.S. dollars) in grant to other SCO member states within this year, and issue an additional 10 billion yuan in loan to the member banks of the SCO Interbank Consortium over the next three years, the Chinese news agency reported.

The SCO Summit assumed significance with Putin, Modi joining Xi, sending out a clear message to the US amid rapid tariff impositions.

Showing bonhomie, Modi shared an image where he could be seen interacting with Putin and Xi.

Modi held separate bilateral talks with the leaders on the sidelines of the meeting.

The Prime Minister shared a clip with Putin on X and wrote, "After the proceedings at the SCO Summit venue, President Putin and I travelled together to the venue of our bilateral meeting. Conversations with him are always insightful."

The picture has fat-fetched meaning at a time India has been slapped with an additional tariff of 25 percent by the US as a penalty for buying oil from Russia.

The Trump administration, which has so far been snubbed by New Delhi after tariff imposition, has sanctioned India to discourage the buying of Russian oil.

The US argues the purchase of oil is fuelling money into the Russian economy amid Moscow's war with Ukraine.

Since the conflict in Ukraine began in early 2022, India significantly increased its imports of discounted Russian crude oil—now comprising over 30 percent of its total crude imports.

In response, the US proposed tariffs and trade measures targeting India’s exports to discourage this behaviour.