Xi, Putin, Modi Convene at SCO Summit in Bishkek — SkimNews
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- Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi convene in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for a two-day SCO summit starting Monday, joined by Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian and leaders of Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus and Kazakhstan, with Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also expected.
- SCO member states account for 43% of the world's population and 23% of the global economy, and the bloc will mark its 25th anniversary under the motto "Together for Sustainable Peace, Development and Prosperity," according to the source.
- The agenda covers the US-Israel war on Iran, the Russia-Ukraine war, Afghanistan, and India-China relations, with a Modi-Putin bilateral and an Erdogan-Putin bilateral on Ukraine scheduled on the sidelines, per Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov.
- Kyrgyz leadership has prioritized advancing the SCO Development Bank (agreed at last year's Tianjin summit), the SCO Development Fund and the SCO Investment Fund, as Iran war disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz continue to upend global supply chains.
- Leaders are expected to discuss new trade corridors including the 7,200km International North-South Transport Corridor linking St Petersburg to Mumbai through Iran, plus a new Arctic shipping route China announced last month in response to Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab blockades.
- International Crisis Group's William Yang said China could use the summit to present itself as a peaceful power contrasting with the US, but warned such efforts are likely limited to rhetoric rather than substantive conflict-resolution proposals.
- University of Hong Kong's Alejandro Reyes described the SCO as "not a coherent anti-US, anti-Western alliance" but a hedging forum, noting that current US policies on Iran, tariffs and sanctions are making strategic room for manoeuvre "more attractive and necessary."
Why it matters: The summit gives sidelined Iran a diplomatic stage after US-Israeli strikes and offers Russia a venue to rally support on Ukraine, while China and India use it to elevate Global South influence. With SCO members representing 43% of humanity, any movement on the proposed SCO Development Bank or new trade corridors through Iran and the Arctic could materially reroute commerce away from Western-controlled routes — though the source flags that anti-US alignment remains rhetorical, not structural.
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