Putin, Xi to attend virtual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit hosted by India's Modi

NEW DELHI – Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Tuesday will hold an online summit hosted by India seeking to expand the influence of the Eurasian group by including Iran and opening a path to membership for Belarus.

China President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will participate in the virtual summit, which will be Mr Putin’s first appearance at an international event since he crushed

a mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group in late June.

The eight-member SCO was formed in 2001 by China and Russia, with former Soviet Central Asian states as members. India and Pakistan joined later. The group seeks to counter Western influence in Eurasia.

While Iran is expected to be accepted as a member, Belarus will sign a memorandum of obligations which will lead to its membership later.

When both countries, which have observer status and enjoy close ties to Moscow, are accepted as members of the SCO, it will expand the grouping’s western flank in both Europe and Asia.

The summit takes place barely two weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

was hosted by United States President Joe Biden for a state visit,

and the two countries called themselves “among the closest partners in the world”.

India, which holds the presidency of SCO and the Group of 20 (G-20) in 2023, has walked a diplomatic tightrope as relations between Western nations and a Russia-China partnership have been fraught due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Beijing’s growing assertive presence in the global geopolitical theatre.

Mr Putin spoke to Mr Modi in a call last week

to discuss the aftermath of the quashed mercenary mutiny. During the discussion, Mr Modi reiterated a call for dialogue and diplomacy regarding the war in Ukraine.

On the sidelines of the SCO summit in Uzbekistan in 2022, Mr Modi told Mr Putin that it is not the era of war, which is the closest India has come to addressing the issue of the war directly with the Russian leader.

Russian oil

Both Mr Putin and Mr Xi are expected to visit New Delhi in September as India hosts the G-20 summit, for which Mr Biden and leaders of other member nations are also likely to be present.

India has refused to blame Russia for the war and increased bilateral trade largely by lifting purchases of Russian oil to a record high, which has irked several Western capitals.

The summit on Tuesday will also see Mr Modi sharing the virtual stage with Mr Xi for the first time since November, when the two leaders were present for the G-20 summit in Indonesia.

The relationship between the two nuclear-armed Asian giants

has been frosty for over three years

as they are involved in a continuing stand-off on their Himalayan frontier.

It will also bring Mr Modi face to face online with his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif, 10 months after they both attended the SCO summit in Uzbekistan.

New Delhi announced in June that the summit will be held virtually, without providing any justification. India will hand over the presidency of the bloc to Kazakhstan at the summit.

SCO member nations are expected to discuss Afghanistan, terrorism, regional security, climate change and digital inclusion, among other topics.

Foreign ministers of SCO members met in India’s coastal resort-state of Goa in May, which ended in old rivals India and Pakistan attacking each other over Kashmir, terrorism and a souring of bilateral ties. REUTERS