Russia's President Putin anticipated to attend China-led SCO assembly in Tianjin
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off his first visit to China since 2018 on Saturday evening, as he arrived in Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. The event, hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, is set to bring together around 20 world leaders in the northern port city.
The SCO, which comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus, has long been seen as a platform for non-Western countries to project influence and signal that Eurasia has its own institutions and rules of the game. According to Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, China has sought to present the SCO as a non-Western-led power bloc that promotes a new type of international relations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to attend the summit, along with leaders from the member states of the SCO. Putin is likely to be accompanied by leaders from China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Belarus, as these countries are SCO members represented at the summit. Putin has stated that the upcoming summit will "strengthen the SCO's capacity to respond to contemporary challenges and threats, and consolidate solidarity across the shared Eurasian space."
The large-scale participation of more than 20 leaders, including the Iranian and Turkish presidents, indicates China's growing influence and the SCO's appeal as a platform for non-Western countries. Lim Tai Wei, a professor and East Asia expert at Japan's Soka University, stated that Russia needs "all the benefits of SCO as a player on the world stage." Lim also noted that Russia is "keen to win over India."
However, the two most populous nations, China and India, remain intense rivals competing for influence across South Asia. The two nations fought a deadly border clash in 2020, and Modi was not on a list of attendees for a massive military parade in Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II, published by Chinese state media on Thursday.
In addition to the SCO summit, other bilateral meetings on the sides of the summit will be organized. Putin is expected to hold talks on Monday with Turkey's Erdogan about the Ukraine conflict and with Iran's Pezeshkian about Tehran's nuclear program. Chinese President Xi met leaders including Egyptian Premier Moustafa Madbouly and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet in Tianjin on Saturday.
The SCO summit takes place days before a massive military parade in Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II, which will see the participation of leaders from more than 130 countries. The SCO, as an institution, has sometimes been touted as an alternative to the NATO military alliance by China and Russia. With 16 more countries affiliated as observers or "dialogue partners" with the SCO, the organisation continues to expand its influence and appeal.
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