Russian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Monday as leaders gathered for the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
Putin held discussions with both Xi and Modi on the sidelines of the gathering, which brings together members of the Eurasian organisation to address security, economic cooperation and broader geopolitical issues.
The SCO began as a five-country grouping comprising China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, following an initial agreement signed in Shanghai. It has since grown substantially and now comprises ten permanent members, 15 dialogue partners and two observer states, making it one of the world’s largest regional organisations.
Its agenda spans political coordination, regional security and economic cooperation. Member states have increasingly presented the SCO as an important institution in the emergence of a multipolar international system following the period of predominantly US-led global influence after the Cold War.
SCO members have also argued that closer coordination is becoming increasingly important amid heightened tensions with Western countries and shifts in the international balance of power. The organisation provides its members with a forum to develop common approaches to emerging economic, security and geopolitical challenges.
What to know about the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation before the Bishkek summit
The SCO is a dynamic regional organization that has experienced several ways of expansion and now includes ten nations from Eastern Europe and Asia to the Middle East, with 15 more as dialogue… pic.twitter.com/aFuwZ5MvPA
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) August 31, 2026
