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During a gathering of Eurasian leaders aimed at elevating Beijing’s role in regional affairs, Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin exchanged criticisms of Western nations on Monday.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), representing a collaborative effort among ten regional countries, promotes itself as an alternative to Western-style alliances. Xi addressed attendees, including Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting that the global landscape is becoming increasingly “chaotic and complex.” He criticized “bullying behavior” from certain nations—implicitly referencing the United States—and emphasized that the security and development challenges faced by member states are growing more severe. Xi urged members to continue embodying the “Shanghai spirit” and to enhance the organization’s effectiveness amid global turbulence.
Putin defended Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in his speech, attributing the conflict to Western-provoked events rather than Russian aggression. He stated, “This crisis was not initiated by Russia’s attack but resulted from a coup supported and incited by the West in Ukraine.” Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called on China to facilitate peace efforts, expressing in Kyiv that they “would welcome a more active role” from Beijing based on respect for the UN Charter.
In addition, Putin praised Turkey’s mediation in the Ukraine crisis during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He later conferred with Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian, with discussions expected to focus on Iran’s nuclear program.
Earlier, leaders from the ten participating countries—China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus—posed for a group photo on a red carpet. Xi, Putin, and Modi engaged in conversations, often accompanied by their translators. Photos captured Modi and Putin holding hands while speaking, and the two leaders reportedly spent nearly an hour in a private discussion aboard Putin’s armored presidential vehicle before the official proceedings. Modi later posted on X, “Conversations with him are always insightful,” alongside a photo of their ride.
Prior to the summit, Modi expressed India’s commitment to deepening its “mutual trust, dignity, and sensitivity” in its relationship with China. The two nations, sharing the world’s largest populations, are longstanding rivals vying for influence across South Asia, with a deadly border clash in 2020 marking their tense relationship. A modest thaw began last October when Modi met Xi at a summit in Russia—the first such encounter in five years—leading to a warming of ties amid U.S. trade tensions under the Trump administration.
More than twenty leaders are attending this SCO summit—the largest since the organization’s inception in 2001. Many will be present in Beijing on Wednesday to observe a major military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, which will also feature North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Early Tuesday, Kim’s train crossed into Chinese territory, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, citing North Korean state media.
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