The leaders of Russia, China and India arrived with other heads of state in Kyrgyzstan on August 31 for a two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

The SCO is widely viewed as offering a forum at which members, as well as 15 “dialogue partners” that include some important middle powers, can devise ways to counter pervasive US global influence.

In Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – as well as the leaders of Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, among others – will take part in a great many bilateral meetings that could prove important in shaping foreign policy looking ahead. Coming four and a half years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and six months into the war between the United States and Iran, the gathering of so many leaders is unarguably an important event that will be watched closely. The summit will also mark the 25th anniversary of the SCO, originally established as a security platform by Russia, China and four Central Asian countries.

Ahead of the summit, on August 30, Xi paid a state visit to Kyrgyzstan, which is celebrating the 35th anniversary of its independence from the Soviet Union. Xi talked of China-Kyrgyzstan cooperation entering a "golden period" of rapid development.

Starting with meetings between Putin and Xi and Putin and Modi that took place on August 31, IntelliNews takes a look at some of the possible highlights of the summit.

Putin meets Xi

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media that at their meeting on the sidelines of the summit, Putin and Xi discussed the war in Ukraine only “in passing.”

Also at the meeting, Putin underlined Moscow’s readiness to make Russia’s visa-free regime with China, on which Moscow is increasingly dependent economically, permanent.

Putin and Xi have previously used SCO summits to develop and push for their vision of a multipolar world that offers a united front against the West.

Xi told Putin he was “happy” to see him, saying China-Russia ties had become “more solid” and that their “prospects will be even brighter”, AFP reported.

“The amount of uncertainty and unpredictability in the international order has obviously increased,” Xi was cited as saying.

He added that China is willing to work with Russia ‌and ⁠others to "strengthen the forces leading the reform of global governance and advancing an ​equal and ​orderly ⁠multipolar world".

Putin, who last met Xi in May, told the Chinese president: “Cooperation is successfully developing on all fronts.”

DPA reported him as also stating: "We [Russia and China] are implementing major projects in the energy sector, industry, space, transport and logistics. Given the current complex geopolitical situation, the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between Russia and China is a model for interstate relations."

There was no word, however, on whether Putin was able to persuade Xi to pay a gas price that would make constructing a second gas export pipeline from Russia to China economically attractive. Russia wants China to buy gas volumes that the EU will no longer take, but Beijing has held out for very low pricing.

The Russian president was described by the Kremlin as travelling to Bishkek with a “compact” seven-member delegation that included Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, presidential aides Maxim Oreshkin and Yury Ushakov, spokesman Peskov, SCO coordinator Bakhtiyor Khakimov and Russian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Sergei Vakulov.

Putin meets Modi

At his meeting with Putin, Modi told the Russian leader through a translator that India supports efforts to end the war in Ukraine, and that “we need to move from endless war to the end of war, to the end of hostilities,” adding that “this is very important for all of humanity”, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Dinakar Peri, a fellow in security studies at Carnegie India, was quoted by the news agency as saying that the SCO gives India a seat at the table in a wider region increasingly shaped by competition among the larger powers, enabling it to defend its interests, follow shifting geopolitical currents and project itself as a reliable stakeholder.

“While it may not entirely shape the agenda, it gives New Delhi a first-hand view of the region and allows it to hedge its position with others,” Peri said.

Putin to hold talks with Pezeshkian

Talks between Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will take place on September 1, a day that will also bring the official SCO sessions of the summit.

Iran joined the bloc in 2023. Mohammad Hassan Najmi, an international relations expert, told AFP that Tehran “believes its membership and active participation in these alliances can enable it to circumvent US and European sanctions.”

However, he observed, that “in times of crisis, these alliances have rarely allowed Iran to resolve its difficulties.”

One item for possible discussion between Putin and Pezeshkian is how to progress the $25bn agreement signed by Tehran with Russia's state nuclear company Rosatom for the construction of four nuclear power plants in Iran.

Naser al-Tamimi, a UK-based analyst and founder of MidEast Strategia, commented on X that the SCO can help largely isolated Iran, "but only to a point."

"The SCO offers Iran broader political cover, helps reduce its international isolation, and expands opportunities for trade and settlements in yuan, rubles, and other national currencies. In doing so, it can modestly reduce Tehran's dependence on the Western financial system."

Tamimi added: "But the SCO is not an economic shield against US sanctions. It lacks a fully developed alternative financial architecture, provides no reliable protection for major banks and companies exposed to secondary sanctions, and cannot compel China or India to absorb high economic costs on Iran’s behalf."

Pezeshkian meets Modi

In a summit sidelines meeting with Modi, Pezeshkian, in remarks made in the wake of the first exchange of fire between the United States and Iran in a month, said continuing the war was not in Tehran’s interest.

“We continue to strive for a path of agreement and understanding, and we believe that continuing the war is neither in our interest, nor in the interest of the region,” he told Modi.

Erdogan to meet Putin

Nato member Turkey – which along with countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Azerbaijan and Armenia holds dialogue partner status within the SCO – says it views SCO participation as part of a balanced foreign policy.

The administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, scheduled for a face-to-face with Putin on September 1, is currently anxious about the intensifying Black Sea warfare conducted by Russia and Ukraine, which has included multiple strikes on Turkish vessels. On August 31, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara has prepared a plan for the safe passage of grain ​via the Black Sea and was ‌in contact with both Russia and Ukraine regarding it.

Turkey has frequently outlined its willingness ​to revive a UN-brokered deal that ⁠got grain out of Ukraine during ​wartime before breaking down.

"We have prepared a plan and we ​are in contact with both sides regarding this plan," Fidan told a press conference in ​Istanbul. "If the necessary conditions emerge, we ​are working in particular to achieve another agreement similar ‌to ⁠the grain deal."

In June, IntelliNews ran a comment piece, arguing that “steadily but surely, almost imperceptibly, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has in the past two years broken from his accommodation with Vladimir Putin.”

Pashinian to meet Putin

Putin is also set on September 1 to meet Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

Ex-Soviet Armenia, long an ally of Russia, has angered Moscow by seeking to move closer to the West to the point that it wants EU membership.

"We will insist that Armenia cannot aspire for EU membership while hugely benefitting from cooperation within the [Russia-led] European Economic Union [EEU]," Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov was reported as saying by RFE/RL. The five-member EEU trade bloc also groups Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.