Russia, China, India and Iran rallied in Bishkek Monday as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization opened its 26th summit, pushing a multipolar agenda against the U.S.-led order.
Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization gathered in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Monday for the group's 26th annual summit, with the presidents of Russia, China and Iran and India's prime minister all in attendance for a two-day meeting built around a multipolar world vision. The summit marks 25 years since the bloc's founding and comes as the U.S.-Iran war, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Washington's tariff campaign dominate the global agenda.
The gathering under the motto "Together for Sustainable Peace, Development and Prosperity" gives America's chief geopolitical rivals a stage to present themselves as an alternative to the Western-led order, even as the bloc's members have sharply different interests.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Bishkek ahead of the summit, which runs August 31 through September 1 under the chairmanship of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is also attending, along with leaders of Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other member and observer states.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn are also expected at the summit, which will see a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines.
The SCO began in 1996 as the Shanghai Five, a border-security arrangement between China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, before expanding in 2001 to include Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined in 2017, Iran became a full member in 2023 and Belarus followed in 2024. The bloc's members account for roughly 43 percent of the world's population and nearly a quarter of global economic output.
Discussions are expected to focus on the U.S.-Iran war, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the economic situation in Afghanistan, according to the SCO Secretariat. Energy and trade routes, digital infrastructure, cross-border payment systems and regional security are also on the agenda.
The summit offers the first chance to advance last year's Tianjin strategy, which called for a multipolar world order and mutually beneficial international cooperation. Relations between India and China -- Asia's two largest economies -- are also expected to be a focus, as the two countries continue a rapprochement after five years of tension following a deadly 2020 border clash.
Putin has already met with Xi on the sidelines of the summit, with the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline linking Russian fields to China via Mongolia a headline bilateral topic. Modi arrived in Bishkek from Uzbekistan, where he received that country's highest state honor, and has bilateral meetings scheduled with Zhaparov, Putin and other leaders.
Analysts note the summit is less a coherent anti-American alliance than a venue where countries with very different interests can demonstrate alternatives to Western institutions. The SCO's expansion and this week's gathering underscore how Washington's assertive posture under President Trump -- from tariffs to sanctions to military action against Iran -- is pushing more countries to hedge against dependence on the United States.
The U.S.-Iran war, which has roiled global energy markets since late February, is expected to dominate side conversations even if formal summit language remains measured. Pezeshkian arrived from Tehran just as overnight news of U.S. strikes on Larak Island and Iranian retaliatory missile attacks on U.S. air bases in Jordan was breaking.
Formal plenary sessions get underway Tuesday, with member and observer nations representing a commanding share of global energy reserves seated at the table. Watch for the summit's closing declaration, bilateral readouts between Putin and Xi and between Modi and Putin, and any joint statements on the Iran war and Ukraine that could signal a coordinated response to American policy.
Russia, China, India and Iran rallied in Bishkek Monday as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization opened its 26th summit, pushing a multipolar agenda against the U.S.-led order.
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