Shanghai (BN24) – Chinese President Xi Jinping is preparing to host more than 20 world leaders at a major regional security summit next week, a move seen as a bold demonstration of Global South solidarity amid heightened tensions with the United States under President Donald Trump.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, scheduled for August 31 to September 1 in the northern port city of Tianjin, will bring together leaders from Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Among the most closely watched participants will be Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marking Modi’s first visit to China in more than seven years.
The gathering highlights China’s determination to project an alternative global order as it strengthens ties with Russia and works to ease longstanding tensions with India following deadly border clashes in 2020. Modi last appeared alongside Xi and Putin at the 2024 BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, even as Western leaders shunned Putin over Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Russian officials in New Delhi have expressed hope that trilateral talks between China, Russia, and India could take place during the SCO meeting.
“Xi will want to use the summit as an opportunity to showcase what a post-American-led international order begins to look like, and to signal that White House efforts to counter China, Iran, Russia and even India have fallen short,” said Eric Olander, editor-in-chief of the China-Global South Project. He added that groupings such as BRICS and the SCO have rattled Trump, reflecting Beijing’s strategy to lead parallel power blocs.
According to China’s foreign ministry, this year’s SCO meeting will be the largest since the bloc was established in 2001. Originally formed by six Eurasian nations to coordinate on security and counterterrorism, the SCO has grown to 10 full members with 16 dialogue and observer partners. Its scope has widened to include economic and military cooperation, though analysts caution that its ability to deliver concrete outcomes remains limited.
“What the SCO represents and how it translates into practical policy remain unclear,” said Manoj Kewalramani, who chairs the Indo-Pacific Research Programme at the Takshashila Institution in Bangalore. “Its real strength lies in optics and convening power, rather than in substantive security solutions.”
Friction persists within the bloc, particularly between India and Pakistan. A June defense ministers’ meeting ended without a joint statement after New Delhi objected to omissions related to a deadly attack in Indian Kashmir. India also refused to support the SCO’s condemnation of Israeli strikes on Iran earlier this year.
Still, momentum appears to be building for improved China-India ties. Analysts expect Xi and Modi to use the summit for discussions on incremental troop withdrawals from contested border areas, easing of trade and visa restrictions, and new cooperation in areas such as climate change and people-to-people exchanges.
“It’s likely India will put aside recent disagreements in order to keep its détente with China on track, especially with renewed tariff pressure from the Trump administration,” Olander noted.
Although experts expect few sweeping policy announcements, the summit underscores the shifting balance of global influence as China positions itself as a leader of the Global South. Putin is expected to extend his stay in China after the SCO, attending a World War II military parade in Beijing, marking a rare lengthy trip abroad for the Russian leader.
Reuters
