US trade war, India-China ties loom large at SCO summit in Tianjin | Politics News

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are among the many greater than 20 world leaders attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, which is now the world’s largest regional grouping by inhabitants.

The Beijing-backed bloc will convene on Sunday and Monday within the northern Chinese language metropolis of Tianjin, bringing collectively a various vary of energy brokers from throughout Asia, Europe and the Center East.

Based by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in 2001, the summit has shifted focus over the previous 20 years from Central Asian considerations to international issues.

Extra considerably, the SCO has grow to be a vital a part of China’s “parallel worldwide governance structure”, stated Eric Olander, editor-in-chief of the China-World South Venture.

As Beijing assumes the mantle of the world’s second-largest superpower, the SCO has created areas for dialogue and cooperation outdoors “the US-led worldwide system”, Olander instructed Al Jazeera.

Whereas the summit in Tianjin is essentially symbolic, it’s a beneficial probability to convey collectively global leaders and bureaucrats in a discussion board the place they will share “frequent grievances”, Olander stated.

With the gathering set to be overshadowed by United States President Donald Trump’s commerce struggle towards a lot of the world – together with many conventional allies of Washington – attendees are more likely to have much more frequent floor.

Company vary from Putin, who is needed for struggle crimes by the Worldwide Prison Court docket, to Belarus’s authoritarian chief Alexander Lukashenko and the likes of United Nations Secretary-Basic Antonio Guterres.

Lots of the attendees even have longrunning rivalries and border disputes, comparable to India with Pakistan, India with China, Saudi Arabia with Iran, and Central Asia with each China and Russia.

“There are advanced dynamics at play right here,” Olander stated.

“Beneath the pleased household photograph is quite a lot of trying over shoulders,” he stated.

‘Swing states’

The SCO has expanded its membership lately to incorporate such political heavyweights as India, Pakistan, Iran and Belarus as full members, with Afghanistan and Mongolia becoming a member of as observers.

Official “dialogue companions” have additionally grown to 14 nations, together with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Qatar, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

The summit will even notably characteristic Southeast Asia, a area that Olander likened to the “swing states” within the nice energy competitors between the US and China.

5 heads of state will attend from the area, together with Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim and Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto, in addition to ASEAN Secretary-Basic Kao Kim Hourn.

Observers shall be intently watching the dynamics between Chinese language President Xi Jinping and India’s Modi, who haven’t met in seven years, stated Claus Soong, an analyst at Germany’s Mercator Institute for China Research who specialises in China’s international technique.

India has historically been an ally of Washington, but it surely was hit this week by Trump’s 50 % tariffs as punishment for its ongoing buy of Russian oil.

The White Home says India’s commerce helps to maintain Russia’s economic system afloat regardless of worldwide sanctions, and with it, Russia’s struggle on Ukraine.

However the shared menace of US tariffs has helped enhance relations between New Delhi and Beijing, which had plummeted in 2020 over a lethal skirmish between border forces within the Himalayas.

The 2 sides reached a deal on their distant frontier in 2024, however their relationship has remained frosty.

Analysts say China sees Trump’s commerce struggle as an opportunity to ease India away from US-led political and navy blocs such because the QUAD, a strategic safety discussion board that features Japan and Australia along with India and the US.

“The secret is to take a look at how China [characterises] its relationship with India after the go to and the way the connection improves between China and India,” Soong instructed Al Jazeera.

Even refined modifications in language by Beijing carry vital diplomatic alerts, he stated.

The SCO summit will even mark the primary assembly between Putin and Xi for the reason that Russian chief met with President Trump in Alaska earlier this month to debate the Ukraine struggle.

Analysts shall be listening for comparable modifications in language for the way the 2 leaders describe the China-Russia relationship.

In 2022, simply weeks earlier than Moscow invaded Ukraine, China and Russia signed a “no limits partnership”, and Xi has performed a significant function in propping up Russia’s economic system since then.

It is a level of competition for New Delhi, as China has finished way more to help Russia economically for the reason that struggle began, however has not confronted comparable sanctions from Trump.

With so many dynamics at play behind the scenes, Daniel Balazs, a analysis fellow on the China Programme at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam College of Worldwide Research, stated the more than likely final result of the SCO shall be a joint assertion from all attendees.

China and Russia are anticipated to push speaking factors comparable to their opposition to “unilateralism” – a coded reference to the US – however many of the language shall be watered all the way down to make it palatable to all.

“The symbolism of really reaching a joint assertion is extra vital than the content material of the assertion itself,” Balazs stated.

“What I might count on is to have an announcement which is a really non-controversial one, to be able to get everyone on board,” he stated.

“Safety and stability, feedback about bettering financial cooperation, and a few feedback in regards to the significance of multilateralism,” Balazs stated.

Law enforcement officials stand guard in entrance of the Tiananmen Gate, in an space briefly closed to guests as a consequence of building, upfront of a navy parade marking the eightieth anniversary of the tip of World Conflict II, in Beijing, China, on August 20, 2025 [Florence Lo/Reuters]

Following the summit, visitors could have a full day in China earlier than travelling to Beijing for an enormous navy parade on September 3 marking 80 years for the reason that finish of World Conflict II in Asia.

That further day – September 2 – shall be prime time for bilateral conferences, the China-World South Venture’s Olander stated.

“Who will meet who on the second of September – that’s one thing to concentrate to,” he stated.

Extra heads of state are as a consequence of attend the parade the subsequent day, with additions stated to incorporate North Korean chief Kim Jong Un, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.

India’s Modi will not be anticipated to remain for the parade, though analysts say he might ship a consultant, comparable to his overseas minister.

The Mercator Institute’s Soong stated the expansive visitor listing for the summit and the navy parade will give Beijing a lift to its public picture, particularly among the many World South.

“That is how China demonstrates its good friend circle – who may be China’s good friend and who’s prepared to endorse China’s narrative,” he stated.