The Russia-India-China trilateral grouping, long on the backburner, made a comeback to prominence at Monday's Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping being spotted exchanging smiles and warm gestures in a short but intensely watched encounter captured on camera.
"Interactions in Tianjin continue! Exchanging perspectives with President Putin and President Xi during the SCO Summit," PM Modi tweeted on X, shortly after images of his encounter with the two leaders emerged online. He also tweeted pictures with them.
On the second day of the summit, Xi Jinping employed his speech to regional leaders to condemn what he called "bullying behaviour" in international affairs.
Speaking in the presence of Modi and Putin, he urged nations to “adhere to fairness and justice... oppose Cold War mentality, camp confrontation, and bullying behaviour.”
Xi emphasized China's expanding role in the SCO, stating that the alliance had made "our borders a tie of friendship and mutual trust" and had always "unequivocally" stood against interference by external forces. Xi said China's combined trade with SCO members had topped $2.3 trillion, pointing out that Beijing was the first to have launched Belt and Road collaborations with member states.
Urging greater cultural and people-to-people connections within the SCO, Xi called for greater tolerance, exchange, and resistance to hegemony, vowing that China would "always stand on the side of international fairness and justice" and play a constructive role in the world.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri affirmed that following his address to the SCO plenary session, Prime Minister Modi would have a bilateral meeting with President Putin.
“Tomorrow, the Prime Minister will be addressing the plenary session of the Summit, where he will outline India’s approach to fostering regional cooperation under the SCO umbrella. After this engagement, he is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, following which he will depart for India,” Misri was quoted as saying in Tianjin on Sunday.
Before this, Modi and Xi had exchanged brief words on the sidelines of the summit — their first encounter since the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia in 2024.
Subsequently, Modi went to a reception organized by Xi at the Tianjin Meijiang International Convention and Exhibition Centre, where the Chinese President and his wife, Peng Liyuan, greeted him prior to him taking part in a group photo with other leaders. Top Russian officials such as Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov were also present, reports TASS.
India took advantage of the summit to invite Xi Jinping to attend the 2026 BRICS Summit, which India will host. Xi accepted with gratitude, and he promised China's cooperation with India's presidency. Another member of BRICS, Russia, will also be attending.
During the SCO, Modi had a one-on-one conversation with Myanmar's acting president and commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the discussions discussed bilateral relations in the context of India's 'Neighbourhood First,' 'Act East,' and Indo-Pacific policy frameworks, with the discussion ranging across development partnerships, defence and security cooperation, border management, and trade.
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