SCO Summit Highlights Shifting Eurasian Alliances

The report covers a diplomatic exchange between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin concerning the continuing war in Ukraine. During a meeting in Bishkek, held on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, Modi told Putin that India supports every effort aimed at ending the conflict. The article presents this position as India’s latest expression of support for a negotiated or otherwise peaceful resolution to the war. The report does not provide details about the duration of the meeting, the specific proposals discussed, or Putin’s response to Modi’s statement. It also does not indicate whether the two leaders reached any agreement or describe any immediate diplomatic initiatives resulting from their talks. Instead, it focuses narrowly on Modi’s message and the setting in which it was delivered. India maintains significant diplomatic and strategic ties with Russia while also engaging with countries involved in efforts to address the Ukraine conflict. Against that backdrop, Modi’s reported remarks underline India’s stated preference for ending the war and its support for international or bilateral efforts that could contribute to that outcome. The meeting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit also highlights the role of multilateral gatherings as venues for discussions between major countries. Overall, the article is a brief, factual news update rather than an in-depth analysis. It identifies the participants, location, institutional setting, and central diplomatic message, but offers no broader assessment of the war, India’s full position, or the potential consequences of the conversation.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, China’s President Xi Jinping and more than a dozen other leaders are expected to attend the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The meeting marks 25 years since the organisation was founded and is expected to focus on regional cooperation, economic issues and broader geopolitical themes. Although the SCO’s founding declaration says it is not an alliance directed against other countries, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have increasingly used the forum to promote a multipolar international order and display solidarity in opposition to Western influence. At last year’s summit, Putin blamed Western countries for provoking the war in Ukraine, while Xi criticised what he described as acts of intimidation amid tensions between China and the United States. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are also expected to attend. Turkiye is a dialogue partner rather than a full SCO member, while Iran joined the organisation in 2023. Pezeshkian is expected to hold bilateral talks with Putin, building on a July meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers. Iran maintains close military ties with Russia and energy links with China. The SCO has 10 permanent members and 15 dialogue partners, including Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The leaders of India and Pakistan, both full members, are also expected at the summit. The organisation says it represents about 40 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of global GDP. The summit comes amid renewed US criticism of China’s trade practices. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would encourage G20 members to reconsider trade terms with Beijing, calling China’s $1.2 trillion global trade surplus unsustainable. He argued that China’s weak domestic economy was driving it to rely on exports and said its economy needed to rebalance. Bessent also planned to meet China’s central bank governor during the G20 finance leaders’ meeting.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is embarking on an unusually active period of international diplomacy, with planned or expected visits to Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, India and the United States. His schedule marks a significant shift after years of curtailed foreign travel and signals Beijing’s interest in playing a larger role in global affairs amid U.S.-China trade tensions, the war involving Iran, risks to supply chains and the growing importance of artificial intelligence security. Xi began the trip in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where he is attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit alongside leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Narendra Modi. He is also making his first state visit to Egypt in a decade, as China expands its economic presence around the Suez Canal. Xi is then expected to attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi, which would be his first visit to India since 2019 and since deadly border clashes between India and China in 2020. Washington is closely watching the summits as it seeks stronger relations with India and China while pressuring Russia over its war with Ukraine. India’s participation allows it to demonstrate its multipolar partnerships and signal that it has alternatives to Washington, even as it remains closer to the United States than to Beijing or Moscow. India-China relations have improved through renewed flights, reopened trade routes, eased investment rules and renewed efforts to address border disputes, although visa restrictions, trade barriers and strategic mistrust remain. Technology, particularly artificial intelligence, is expected to be a central issue in a potential Trump-Xi meeting in Washington on Sept. 24. Officials and experts have discussed possible AI guardrails, cooperation on cancer research and extending a tariff truce. However, analysts warn that the perception of AI development as a zero-sum contest could limit cooperation. Overall, Xi’s travel reflects China’s effort to strengthen diplomatic influence while navigating competition with the United States and complex relationships with India, Russia and other emerging powers.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin are due to meet in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Their talks come as India’s effort to maintain relationships with competing powers faces growing pressure from the United States, Western sanctions on Russia, the war in Ukraine, and disruptions to global energy markets linked to the US-Israel war on Iran and shipping problems in the Strait of Hormuz. Energy has become the most prominent and contentious part of India-Russia relations. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, discounted Russian crude has made Moscow one of India’s largest oil suppliers. New Delhi argues that affordable and reliable energy is a national interest, despite US pressure to reduce purchases. India is also diversifying its sources, including supplies from Russia and the United States, while acknowledging that a transition to non-fossil fuels will take time. Defense remains an important pillar, but India’s dependence on Russian military equipment is declining. Concerns about Russia’s production capacity, delivery schedules, spare parts and the performance of its forces in Ukraine have encouraged India to seek alternative suppliers and emphasize domestic defense manufacturing. The relationship is therefore changing rather than disappearing. Russia’s growing dependence on China has further altered the strategic equation. Moscow is increasingly reliant on Beijing for trade, supplies and economic support, reducing Russia’s usefulness to India as a counterweight to China. India is consequently pursuing an “America plus” strategy: maintaining its partnership with Washington while expanding ties with France, Israel and other powers. Putin is expected to seek reassurance that India will remain engaged with Russia, while Modi will likely focus on energy, defense, trade, payment systems and technology. The Bishkek meeting is expected to preserve continuity, but a later BRICS summit in New Delhi will be a more important test of whether the relationship can deliver concrete progress. The article concludes that India-Russia ties retain strategic value, but they are more selective and less dependent than before the Ukraine war.

Leaders from China, Russia, India and other member states gathered in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional grouping increasingly presented by China and Russia as a counterweight to Western influence. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the meeting, while Putin held bilateral talks with Xi and was expected to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian when the formal SCO sessions began. The summit offers Russia and Iran an important platform for strengthening ties with non-Western partners. Russia is described as being more than four years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while Iran is involved in a war with the United States and Israel. Both countries view the organization as a way to demonstrate that they retain international relationships despite worsening relations with Western governments. Founded in 2001 by China, Russia and four Central Asian states, the SCO has expanded to 10 members: China, Russia, India, Iran, Pakistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It also includes several dialogue partners. Although the organization has grown in size and influence, its objectives remain vague, and it is not a unified political or military bloc. The article emphasizes the significant disagreements among members. India, for example, has competing interests with both China and Pakistan, making its participation more useful for strategic signaling, monitoring regional developments and maintaining diplomatic flexibility than for achieving major substantive outcomes. Turkey, another SCO dialogue partner, is also seeking greater regional influence while balancing its NATO and Western relationships. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly expressed a desire for Turkey to become a permanent SCO member.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to discuss bilateral relations and international and regional issues. Xi Jinping said that growing uncertainty and unpredictability in the international environment made stronger cooperation necessary. He emphasized that public support for peace, development and cooperation remained unchanged, and said China was ready to work with Russia and other countries to promote reforms in global governance and advance an equal, orderly multipolar world. Putin highlighted opportunities for expanded cooperation in artificial intelligence and digital innovation, saying these areas could support economic development in both countries. The Kremlin said the leaders also discussed the Ukraine conflict, although it was not the main focus of their talks. Their previous meeting had taken place in Beijing in May. Putin also proposed making the Russia-China visa-free travel arrangement permanent, provided Beijing considered the move practical and beneficial. He said the visa-free policy had contributed to a 43% increase in tourist flows between the two countries during the first half of the year. The meeting took place during the two-day SCO summit, attended by leaders from several countries. Founded in 2001 by China, Russia and four Central Asian states as a security forum, the SCO now has 10 members. Xi separately met Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov. Discussions with Mirziyoyev focused on expanding multifaceted China-Uzbekistan cooperation, while talks with Zhaparov covered the rapid development of China-Kyrgyzstan relations and a proposed treaty on permanent good-neighbourliness, friendship and cooperation.