On September 1, 2025, the bustling port city of Tianjin, China, became the backdrop for a summit that captured the world’s attention and offered a vivid snapshot of shifting global alliances. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit saw Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping come together—smiling, chatting, and, for a moment, appearing as if old friends reunited. But beneath the surface, their gathering reflected a delicate web of rivalries, shared interests, and the mounting pressures of a changing world order.
The summit’s timing was anything but accidental. Just days earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump had slapped an additional 25% tariff on Indian imports, doubling duties to a steep 50%. The move, a direct response to India’s ongoing purchase of discounted Russian oil, sent a clear message from Washington: continued trade with Moscow would come at a cost. According to Bloomberg, these tariffs have accelerated India’s efforts to strengthen ties with both China and Russia—two nations similarly targeted by American economic measures.
The SCO summit, which ran from September 1 to 2, brought together leaders from China, India, Russia, and several other Eurasian states. Its agenda was packed: regional security, economic cooperation, and the growing challenges of a “chaotic and intertwined” international order, as Xi Jinping put it. Yet, for many observers, it was the candid, viral photograph of Xi, Modi, and Putin laughing together that told the real story. As CNBC noted, the image captured not just camaraderie but also the complex and sometimes competing dynamics between the trio. “The dragon and the elephant are not dancing as yet,” cautioned Gautam Bambawale, India’s former ambassador to China. “They are just looking at each other from opposite sides of a room and trying to assess what are the implications of the relationship between the two? It’s going to take time to bring the relationship back on track.”
Despite the smiles, obstacles remain. The India-China border dispute—simmering since deadly clashes in 2020—still casts a shadow. China’s deep partnership with Pakistan, which extends beyond trade into military and intelligence cooperation, also limits the depth of any India-China rapprochement. But as Bloomberg observed, Trump’s tariffs have nudged New Delhi and Beijing to at least consider mending ties, if only out of necessity.
For Modi, the summit was a chance to showcase India’s strategic autonomy. In his opening remarks during a bilateral meeting with Putin, he described the India-Russia partnership as “special and privileged.” Putin, addressing Modi as a “dear friend,” echoed the sentiment: “Russia and India have maintained special relations for decades. Friendly, trusting. This is the foundation for the development of our relations in the future.” Their rapport was on full display as Putin gave Modi a lift in his armored Russian-made limousine, a gesture that quickly made the rounds on social media.
Energy and trade dominated Modi and Putin’s discussions. Russia now accounts for around 37% of India’s total oil imports, a dramatic shift from India’s traditional reliance on Middle Eastern suppliers. According to Indian government data, trade between the two nations hit a record $68.7 billion in the 2024-25 financial year, with imports from Russia totaling about $64 billion and Indian exports to Russia at roughly $5 billion. Both countries have set their sights on boosting trade to $100 billion by 2030.
Yet, the summit was not just about economics. Modi used the platform to call for a constructive resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, stating, “To end the conflict soonest and establish peace permanently, we need to find out a way. It’s a call of the entire humanity.” However, the SCO’s official closing statement notably omitted any mention of the Ukraine war—a point Kyiv was quick to criticize. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called the omission “telling,” arguing that a just end to Russia’s aggression was essential for global peace and security. The statement, as reported by DW, accused Moscow of trying to “portray the world as divided in its assessment of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”
The summit’s joint declaration did, however, condemn Trump’s tariff policy and all recent attacks against member states. The SCO members stressed their rejection of “unilateral coercive measures, including economic measures,” in a clear reference to the U.S. tariffs that have hit China and India especially hard. The declaration also condemned Israeli and U.S. attacks on nuclear facilities in Iran and called for a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza, highlighting the group’s growing ambition to weigh in on global security issues.
For China, the summit offered a chance to present itself as a reliable partner to the Global South. Xi Jinping, in his address, denounced “bullying behavior” in the world order and called on SCO members to “adhere to fairness and justice... oppose Cold War mentality, camp confrontation, and bullying behavior.” He argued that the SCO was “shouldering greater responsibilities for safeguarding regional peace and stability,” and that its influence would only grow as global turbulence intensified.
Meanwhile, Trump continued to criticize India’s trade practices on his Truth Social platform, calling the U.S.-India relationship “a totally one sided disaster!” He claimed, “India buys most of its oil and military products from Russia, very little from the U.S. They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late.” The New York Times described the summit’s optics as a “smiling manifestation of a troika that Moscow had recently said it hoped to revive,” noting that India’s bureaucracy might once have avoided such overt displays of closeness with China and Russia, but Trump’s tariffs left New Delhi with “little incentive” to hold back.
Despite the show of unity, India made a point of skipping the SCO military parade, a subtle reminder of the limits to any thaw with Beijing. Modi’s quick exit from the summit—immediately after arriving from Tokyo—also signaled that India remains deeply engaged with its U.S. partners in Asia. As Jeremy Chan of Eurasia Group explained to CNBC, “India is using this to opportunistically send a signal indirectly to Washington, that it has strategic options, not only in Beijing, but also in Moscow.”
At the heart of the summit was a debate over “multipolarity.” For China, multipolarity means reducing U.S. dominance and asserting itself as Asia’s leading power. For India, it’s about spreading influence more evenly, ensuring no single state dominates. For Russia, the SCO is one of the few international platforms where Putin isn’t on the defensive—an opportunity to showcase enduring ties with influential Asian partners despite Western sanctions.
As the summit concluded, the viral photograph of Xi, Modi, and Putin lingered in the global imagination—a fleeting image of harmony in a world where alliances are constantly shifting. The smiles may have been genuine, but the underlying realities are far more nuanced, shaped by trade wars, territorial disputes, and the relentless pursuit of national interests.
In the end, the Tianjin summit underscored that in today’s world, even old friends must navigate new challenges, and every handshake carries layers of meaning well beyond the camera’s lens.
