Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Bishkek, bringing the three leaders together again in a rare moment of high-profile diplomacy.
Modi, Xi and Putin appeared together for the family photograph at the Yrys Ordo Congress Hall, with the interaction between Modi and Xi marked by a brief handshake. The encounter comes a year after the three leaders were seen together at the SCO Summit in Tianjin, where their joint appearance drew considerable international attention.
The Bishkek meeting comes at an important moment for India's ties with both China and Russia. New Delhi and Beijing have stepped up diplomatic engagement following years of tensions after the military confrontation that began in 2020, while India continues to maintain close ties with Moscow even as it keeps its strategic options open with the United States.
The latest interaction between Modi and Xi follows a series of diplomatic efforts aimed at stabilising India-China relations. On August 26, India and China agreed to two additional meeting points for the General Level Mechanism or the Senior Highest Military Commander meeting, with the objective of improving border management.
The two sides also agreed to establish two additional channels of border military hotlines in the Eastern and Middle Sectors. These measures were among the “Eight Points of Outcomes and Consensus” reached during the 25th round of talks between the Special Representatives of India and China on the boundary question.
National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had co-chaired those talks in Beijing.
The renewed contact also comes ahead of the BRICS Summit that India will host in New Delhi on September 12-13. Modi had invited Xi to the summit in 2025, with the Chinese president thanking him for the invitation and offering China's support to India's BRICS Presidency.
China Global Television Network journalist Zhao Yunfei said multilateral platforms such as the SCO and BRICS could provide opportunities for the two countries to deepen engagement.
“I think it has created multiple occasions for the two presidents to get a chance to meet. This would be really good for the relationship between China and India because we are neighbouring countries. China has always attached importance to its neighbours because we are neighbours, and then we have to settle all the differences as well as pursue the common ground all together to pursue the common wealth of the people in the region,” Zhao said.
“So, the SCO has really provided a platform; hopefully, BRICS will also provide a good platform for both sides,” he added.
The return of the Modi-Xi-Putin grouping at Bishkek carries geopolitical symbolism, but it does not amount to evidence of a formal India-China-Russia alliance.
The SCO brings together countries with significantly different interests, including India and Pakistan, and does not have a mutual-defence clause, integrated military command or common foreign policy. India remains a member of the Quad while simultaneously engaging China and Russia through platforms such as the SCO and BRICS.
The three-way appearance therefore reflects India's effort to preserve strategic room for manoeuvre rather than a shift into a China-Russia camp.
For Beijing and Moscow, the gathering also reinforces the SCO's image as a major forum outside Western-led institutions. For New Delhi, however, participation allows India to engage with major powers in a non-Western diplomatic space while continuing its relationships with the US, Japan and Australia.
The Bishkek photograph thus carries a message of continuity from Tianjin, but the deeper story lies in what follows: whether renewed India-China engagement can translate into more substantive diplomacy while the strategic rivalry between the two Asian powers remains unresolved.
