Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hold a trilateral summit meeting in St. Petersburg, July 17, 2006. (CCTV Photo)

    ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday 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 St. Petersburg summit and the three leaders exchanged views on cooperation among the three countries, according to Chinese officials.

    At the summit, Hu said China, Russia and India, who have set up bilateral strategic partnership among them, have vital influence on the 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 of these advantages to deepen the strategic cooperation among us," Hu was quoted as saying by Chinese officials.

    The Chinese president put forward some proposals for boosting trilateral cooperation:

    -- 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, to 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 and 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 promote the domestic economic development in the three countries, said Putin.

    Singh said the three nations should make concerted efforts to enhance the trilateral cooperation, making it beneficial to the peoples of the three countries as well as contributing to peace and development in the region and the world at large.

    The three leaders also exchanged views on the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, the cooperation on fighting terrorism and cracking down on cross-border crimes. Enditem