SCO Summit Opens in Bishkek as Leaders of China, Russia, India Meet
Leaders of SCO member states, including Xi, Putin and Modi, met in Bishkek for the summit, with bilateral talks on the sidelines.
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan — The leaders of China, Russia, and India joined other heads of state in Kyrgyzstan's capital on Monday for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, a bloc often positioned as a counterweight to Western influence.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov received the arriving dignitaries at the Yrys Ordo Congress Hall, greeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alongside leaders from Iran, Pakistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
On the sidelines, Putin held separate bilateral meetings with Xi and Modi. During his talks with Xi, Putin affirmed Moscow's readiness to make the visa-free regime with China permanent. He also noted that Russia's relationship with India is strengthening.
A meeting between Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled for Tuesday, when the official SCO sessions are set to take place. Russia, now over four years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Iran, six months into a conflict with the United States and Israel, view the summit as a key platform to deepen ties with non-Western partners.
Speaking through a translator, Modi told Putin that India supports efforts to end the war in Ukraine, stating that the world needs to move "from endless war to the end of war," and that this is important for all of humanity.
The SCO, founded in 2001 by China, Russia, and four Central Asian states as a security forum, has expanded over the past quarter-century. It now comprises ten member nations, with several other countries holding "dialogue partner" status. While its goals and programs remain broad, China has increasingly presented the bloc as an alternative to Western-led groupings like the G7, pledging development and financial assistance to expand its scope and influence.