A network of countries learning to work around Western pressure
Putin's visit underscores Russia's pivot toward Asia, with China and India maintaining energy trade worth $115 billion despite Western sanctions and pressure. The SCO summit represents a counterweight to Western influence, uniting 40% of global population without mutual defense clauses, unlike NATO.
- Putin arrived in Tianjin on Sunday for the 25th SCO summit
- Russian crude exports to China and India totaled $115 billion in 2024
- The SCO comprises 10 member states representing approximately 40% of global population
- Modi's visit to China is his first in seven years
- North Korea has supplied Russia with weapons and troops for the Ukraine war
Russian President Putin arrives in Tianjin for the 25th SCO summit, where he will meet with Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi amid Western isolation over Ukraine and strengthening Asian alliances.
Vladimir Putin's plane touched down in Tianjin on Sunday morning, marking his arrival at the 25th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The Russian president came to meet with Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi—a gathering that, on its surface, looks like routine diplomacy. But the timing and the cast of characters tell a different story about how the world's power centers are realigning.
The summit runs through Monday and will draw more than twenty heads of state and government, along with representatives from international organizations. Beijing has billed it as the largest gathering of the bloc since its founding in 2001. The SCO itself spans roughly 40 percent of the world's population—China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, plus observer states and dialogue partners. Unlike NATO, it has no mutual defense clauses. It presents itself as a forum for political, economic, and security cooperation, a space where countries can coordinate without the binding commitments that come with a traditional alliance.
Putin's presence here is inseparable from Russia's isolation in the West. The war in Ukraine has left Moscow cut off from Europe and North America, but the Kremlin has deepened its ties across Asia—with China, India, Iran, and North Korea. During this summit, Putin will have the chance to thank both Xi and Modi for something concrete: they have kept buying Russian oil despite enormous pressure from Washington. This month alone, the United States imposed an additional 50 percent tariff on Indian exports as punishment for India's crude purchases from Russia. New Delhi has defended these transactions as a sovereign choice. The numbers are substantial: Russian crude exports to China and India reached $115 billion in 2024, a lifeline that has allowed Moscow to sustain its energy revenues even as Western sanctions tighten.
The Kremlin confirmed that Putin will meet with Modi during the summit, a session designed to present a united front against what Moscow and New Delhi both frame as unilateral American pressure. Putin will also hold talks with leaders from Iran and Turkey. These are not casual encounters—they are choreographed moments of solidarity among countries that have all felt the weight of Western economic coercion.
After the summit ends, Putin will travel to Beijing for a military parade on September 3rd, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in the Pacific. It is a significant date in Chinese and Russian memory, and it will be a show of military strength. Putin will stand alongside another leader who has been severely sanctioned by the West: North Korea's Kim Jong-un. The connection between Russia and North Korea has grown tangible and urgent. Over the past two years, North Korea has been Russia's primary supplier of weapons and ammunition. Thousands of North Korean troops have also fought in the Kursk offensive as part of Russia's war in Ukraine. This is not a distant partnership—it is an active military collaboration.
Meanwhile, something else is happening at the margins of this summit. Xi and Modi met on Sunday, and the Chinese president spoke of the need for China and India to be "friends and good neighbors." Modi responded by saying India is "committed to advancing relations on the basis of mutual trust, respect, and sensitivity." These are careful words, but they signal a thaw. Modi's visit is his first to China in seven years, a break in a period of deep bilateral tension and rivalry. Both countries have had friction with Washington, and both seem to be calculating that there is value in moving closer to each other. It is a small but telling shift in the regional balance.
What emerges from this summit is not a formal alliance in the Western sense, but something more fluid and pragmatic: a network of countries that have learned to work around Western economic pressure, that have found ways to trade with each other despite sanctions, and that are beginning to see their interests as aligned. Putin's visit to Tianjin is a moment of that realignment made visible.
Citas Notables
China and India must be friends and good neighbors— Xi Jinping, speaking to Narendra Modi at the summit
India is committed to advancing relations on the basis of mutual trust, respect, and sensitivity— Narendra Modi, responding to Xi Jinping
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does Putin's presence at this particular summit matter so much right now?
Because it shows where Russia's lifeline is. The West has tried to isolate Moscow economically, but China and India are still buying its oil. This summit is where Putin gets to say thank you and coordinate how to keep that flowing.
But the SCO isn't a military alliance like NATO. So what's the actual power here?
The power is in the refusal to be isolated. These countries represent 40 percent of the world's population. They're saying: we don't need your permission to trade with each other, and we won't follow your sanctions. It's not about armies; it's about economic gravity.
What's significant about Modi being there, especially after seven years away?
It signals that India and China are finding reasons to cooperate despite their own tensions. Both are feeling pressure from Washington—India over Russian oil purchases, China over trade and technology. When rivals start moving closer, it usually means they've identified a common threat.
And the military parade in Beijing with Kim Jong-un—is that just symbolism?
Not at all. North Korea has been supplying Russia with weapons and troops for the Ukraine war. That parade is a public display of a working military partnership. It's saying: we are not isolated, we are coordinated.
So this is about reshaping the global order?
It's about creating an alternative order. Not replacing the Western one overnight, but building a space where countries can operate outside it. The summit itself is that space made real.