Over 20 foreign leaders and delegates of 10 international organisations will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China. The summit, scheduled on August 31-September 1, will feature some of the world's most powerful leaders such as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Prime Minister Modi will arrive in China after completing a two-day visit to Japan, where he will participate in the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. This will be Modi’s eighth visit to Japan and his first bilateral meeting with Ishiba since he assumed office.
Modi will fly from Japan to Tianjin at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. He is likely to have important bilateral talks on the side during the summit, such as with Russian President Vladimir Putin and meetings with some of the Central Asian leaders.
India and China are also in line for a direct meeting on August 31, where the two leaders will most probably debate regional stability, trade issues and border management-related matters.
The SCO now has 10 members, including India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Together, the grouping accounts for close to half of the world's population and provides a forum to share security, trade, and multilateral cooperation across Eurasia.
Some of the notable foreign leaders that are likely to come to the summit include:
The summit takes place at a time when global trade tensions are running high, following recent protectionist policies by the United States. The administration of President Donald Trump has slapped high tariffs on imports from a number of countries, including India and China, as a continuation of his "America First" policy.
Trump has attributed unfair trade practices, absence of reciprocal access to markets, and the Indian purchase of cheap Russian oil as some of the main reasons for these actions. Most recently, duties on a variety of Indian exports have been doubled to 50 per cent, a move that has further put economic relations between Washington and New Delhi under severe strain.
The SCO Summit in Tianjin is under close scrutiny as leaders from Asia, the Middle East, and Europe convene to discuss urgent issues ranging from regional security and energy cooperation to how to navigate the challenges of disruption in global trade. With Modi, Putin, and Xi joining the forum, the results of the summit may have dramatic implications for Eurasian geopolitics.
