China鈥檚 president Xi Jinping will host world leaders including Russia鈥檚 Vladimir Putin and India鈥檚 Narendra Modi from Sunday for a summit before a huge military parade as he seeks to showcase a non-Western style of regional collaboration.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit will be held Sunday and Monday, days before the military parade in nearby Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II, which North Korea鈥檚 Kim Jong Un will attend.
The SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus 鈥� with 16 more countries affiliated as observers or 鈥榙ialogue partners鈥�.
China and Russia have used the organisation 鈥� sometimes touted as a counter to the Western-dominated NATO military alliance 鈥� to deepen ties with Central Asian states.
As China鈥檚 claim over Taiwan and Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine have seen them clash with the United States and Europe, analysts say the SCO is one forum where they are trying to win influence.
More than 20 leaders including Iranian and Turkish presidents Masoud Pezeshkian and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend the bloc鈥檚 largest meeting since its founding in 2001.
Hosting this many leaders gives Beijing a chance to 鈥榙emonstrate convening power鈥�, said Lizzi Lee from the Asia Society Policy Institute.
But substantial outcomes are not expected, she added, as the summit would be more about optics and agenda-setting.
鈥楾he SCO runs by consensus, and when you have countries deeply divided on core issues like India and Pakistan, or China and India, in the same room, that naturally limits ambition,鈥� Lee said.
Beijing wants to show it can bring diverse leaders together and reinforce the idea that global governance is 鈥榥ot Western-dominated鈥�, she added.
Assistant foreign minister Liu Bin said Friday that the summit will bring stability in the face of 鈥榟egemonism and power politics鈥�, a veiled reference to the United States.
Putin鈥檚 attendance comes as Ukraine鈥檚 president Volodymyr Zelensky insists that a meeting with him would be 鈥榯he most effective way forward鈥�.
While US president Donald Trump has pushed to broker a Ukraine-Russia summit, Moscow has ruled out any immediate Putin-Zelensky talks.
Putin at the SCO summit will likely seek to promote its narratives of 鈥榟ow the 鈥榡ust鈥� end of the war will look like鈥�, said Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore鈥檚 Nanyang Technological University.
鈥榃ith Putin in the room, the war will hang over the proceedings,鈥� Asia Society鈥檚 Lee said, but added that the topic of Ukraine would not be 鈥榝ront and centre鈥� of the summit.
鈥楾he SCO avoids topics that divide members, and this one obviously does,鈥� she told AFP.
Putin will want to show that he 鈥榠s not isolated, reaffirming the partnership with Xi, and keeping Russia visible in Eurasia鈥�, Lee said.
Modi鈥檚 visit is his first to China since 2018.
The two most populous nations are intense rivals competing for influence across South Asia and fought a deadly border clash in 2020.
A thaw began last October when Modi met with Xi for the first time in five years at a summit in Russia.
Caught in geopolitical turbulence triggered by Trump鈥檚 tariff war, they have moved to mend ties.
鈥楥hina will try its very best to pull out all stops to woo India, particularly capitalising on India鈥檚 trade issues with the US,鈥� said Lim Tai Wei, a professor and East Asia expert at Japan鈥檚 Soka University.
But fundamental differences between the countries cannot be resolved easily, he cautioned.
鈥楾emporary respite or temperature-cooling, however, may be possible,鈥� Lim said.
Modi was not on a list of attendees for the parade published by Chinese state media on Thursday that included Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Myanmar鈥檚 junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.
Modi did not attend Beijing鈥檚 2015 parade.
China and India announced in August that they would restart direct flights, advance talks on their disputed border, and boost trade.
