Top officials from China, Russia, and India are gathering in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, this week for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, an alliance widely viewed as a counterweight to American international clout.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are among the heads of state attending the regional gathering in the Kyrgyz capital.
The event will feature a series of side-line discussions, including a bilateral session between Putin and Xi on Monday. The Russian leader is also scheduled to meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday, alongside the core SCO sessions.
With Moscow four and a half years into its military campaign in Ukraine and Tehran six months into a conflict involving the U.S. and Israel, both governments consider the forum vital for reinforcing alliances outside the Western sphere.
Founded in 2001 by Beijing, Moscow, and four Central Asian nations as a regional security arrangement, the SCO has broadened its roster and global footprint over its 25-year history, despite maintaining loosely defined objectives and limited global public recognition.
The bloc currently comprises 10 member states: China, Russia, India, Iran, Pakistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, alongside a network of dialogue partners.
China and Russia continue to frame the coalition as a non-Western alternative to bodies like the G7, with Beijing offering development backing and economic resources to expand the group’s global footprint.
Addressing the forum’s broader trajectory, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted last week that the alliance has successfully “explored a new path for regional cooperation.”