Leaders Putin and Modi attend summit in China, facilitated by Xi Jinping
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit is underway in Tianjin, China, from Sunday to Monday, with leaders from various countries in attendance. The summit is a significant gathering aimed at strengthening the organization's capacity to respond to contemporary challenges and threats.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and leaders from the member countries, including India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are attending the event. Modi arrived in China on Saturday for his first visit since 2018.
The SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus, with 16 more countries as observers or "dialogue partners." The countries represented at the summit include observer states such as Mongolia and Afghanistan, and several dialogue partners including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Maldives, Myanmar, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. Guest participants include Turkmenistan, ASEAN, CIS, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and the Eurasian Economic Union.
Xi Jinping held bilateral meetings with leaders from the Maldives, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during the summit. His meeting with Modi was particularly noteworthy, as it comes days after India was hit by a sharp increase in US tariffs on its goods as punishment for New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil.
The two most populous nations, China and India, had a deadly border clash in 2020. However, a thaw began last October when Modi met with Xi for the first time in five years at a summit in Russia. The summit in Tianjin is taking place amidst increased tension between India and the US over trade disputes and purchases of Russian oil.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the summit will "strengthen the SCO's capacity to respond to contemporary challenges and threats, and consolidate solidarity across the shared Eurasian space." Putin's sentiment was echoed by Xi Jinping, who expressed his hope that the summit would contribute to peace, stability, and development in the region.
The SCO is sometimes touted as an alternative to NATO by China and Russia. The organization, which was established in 2001, has been growing in influence and is seen as a counterbalance to Western powers in the region. The summit in Tianjin is expected to further solidify the SCO's role in regional politics.
