The EU’s 27 foreign ministers will debate the option of seizing Russia’s frozen $200bn at an informal gathering in Copenhagen, as the leading BRICS nations gather in Beijing to form a common strategy to deal with US trade aggression on August 30.
The leaders of three of the world’s four most powerful nations met in China this weekend to discuss how to react to the upending of the international order brought forth by the US under President Trump.
At a Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amongst others, who together represent the majority of humanity alive today.
China’s leader Xi Jinping laid out Beijing’s ambitions for an alternative international order when he welcomed his counterparts from Russia, India and Iran to the four-day security forum where he sought to offer a contrast to US President Donald Trump’s global stewardship.
As bne IntelliNews reported, the US support of Ukraine and sanctions on Russia has pushed Putin into the arms of China, but since taking office US President Donald Trump’s aggressive Liberation Day tariffs has also pushed India and Brazil into the BRICS bloc that is maturing from an informal economic block into a fully-fledged geopolitical alliance specifically seeking to counter the US-led western hegemony. Moreover, those countries that were previously holding back, like Indonesia and Malaysia, have been so unsettled by the mercurial Trump administration that they have also joined up.
The SCO meeting in the Chinese city of Tianjin has a specific geopolitical agenda and follows on from a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, China and ASEAN summit in May that brought together another two large emerging market blocs in what is also the world’s largest economic bloc. Together, these countries have over 2bn people, 30% of the world's GDP and, crucially, about 55% of world GDP growth in PPP terms.
“This is a group of countries that have been significantly antagonised by the west, especially by the US,” said Yun Sun, senior fellow at the Stimson Center, a Washington think-tank, told the Financial Times. “China is bringing them together and making a statement about global governance and the global order . . . It will be saying that we, the SCO, have a very different vision.”
China has been biding its time as it modernised its economy, but came out and explicitly challenged the US claim to lead the world with his three-day state visit to Moscow in 2023 where the two leaders declared an “unlimited partnership”. Since then, China has thrown its full support behind Russia in defiance of US pressure. Putin and Xi have since deepened their relationship and spelled out their vision of a new multipolar world order, most recently in an 8,000 word essay published last year.
The Sino-Russian tie up was initially derided as lop-sided as Russia would be relegated to becoming a raw materials storehouse for China, but as time passes the BRICS nations are merging into a much more coordinated and powerful political force.
Sino-India reset
Modi’s presence is key as relations between New Delhi and Beijing have never been good and were rankled by a tense border dispute. However, the two superpowers are becoming increasingly pragmatic. China and India have been at loggerheads since a war in 1962 and last clashed along their shared border in 2020. As a result, Modi and Xi are pushing for a reset as trade pressures force New Delhi to bury the hatchet.
“Had a fruitful meeting with President Xi Jinping in Tianjin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. We reviewed the positive momentum in India-China relations since our last meeting in Kazan,” Modi said in a post on social media. “We agreed on the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility in border areas and reaffirmed our commitment to cooperation based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity.”
Xi made four suggestions in his bilateral meeting with Modi to deepen ties between the two countries. Xi called for stronger “strategic communication” and deepening mutual trust and also called for expanding cooperation to “achieve mutual benefits and win-win results,” to accommodate each others concerns. He also called for “strengthen multilateral cooperation to safeguard common interests." Modi welcomed the suggestions.
The two leaders also discussed the border issue as part of ongoing negotiations, and technical agreements were made to resume direct flights between the two countries.
Another difficult relationship that will need to be papered over is that of Pakistan and India, who fought a brief war in May. Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is also attending the meeting. Beijing has angered New Delhi by supplying Pakistan with advanced J-35 stealth jet fighters, but Washington has also done the same, with a deal to sell Pakistan advanced F-16 fighters.
This is Modi’s first visit to China in seven years, a period marked by deadlock along the Himalayan frontier, military clashes in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley and a sharp decline in trade and travel. The two leaders now say the atmosphere has changed, with Xi describing India as a “partner” rather than a rival and Modi speaking of “peace and stability”. On very good terms with both countries, Putin has also played an important mediating role in their relations.
The growing warmth in the Sino-Indian relations starkly contrasts with the growing anger the Indians feel for Washington’s “hypocritical” approach to trade after Trump slapped an additional 25% tariffs on India bringing the total to 50%, to “punish” them for continuing to buy Russian oil. India accounts for some 38% of Russian oil exports, with China buying most of the rest. New Delhi is defying Washington and says it will continue to buy Russia’s crude.
The government in New Delhi issued a scathing letter pointing out that the EU and US both continue to trade with Russia and indeed the EU’s trade – energy imports – is far in excess of India’s imports of oil. At the start of the war in 2022 and up to the G20 summit hosted by India two years ago, India remained a moderate and hoped to maintain cordial relations with both the East and West. Relations with Washington have dramatically deteriorated since then.
In addition to Modi and Putin, Xi will be joined by about 20 other leaders at this year’s summit, which will be the SCO’s biggest yet, according to Chinese Communist party media outlet Qiushi.
Brazil to hold emergency BRICS conference
Russian bilateral meetings
Putin has a busy schedule as he continues to work to undermine sanctions with his partners in the Global South and most of their leaders will be at the SCO meeting.
In all Putin is planning some ten bilateral meetings, starting with Xi. On September 1, Putin plans to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and hold brief conversations with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Nepalese Prime Minister Sharma Oli.
On September 2, the Russian leader is set to meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Syrian President Aleksandar Vucic and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziy/yev. Putin is also expected to hold conversations with President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo and Vietnamese President Luong Cuong. Ushakov pointed out that a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who will also attend the Beijing celebrations, was under consideration.
In addition Putin brought a very large delegation that includes almost all Russia’s top businessmen.
The following leaders will attend the SCO meeting, according to Xinhua:
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov
General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu
Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh
Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli
North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Serbian President Aleksander Vucic
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh
President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa
