Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping are expected in Central Asia’s Kyrgyzstan Monday for a two-day summit, also attended by Iran’s and India’s leaders, of a regional bloc seeking to be a counter-influence to the West. Around a dozen heads of states will head to the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek to mark 25 years of the Shanghai Cooperation Group (SCO). The group brings together Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, four Central Asian countries and Moscow-allied Belarus. Putin and Xi have previously used SCO summits to promote their vision of a multipolar world and present a united front against the West. It takes place four-and-a-half years into Moscow’s Ukraine invasion and six months into the war between Washington and Tehran. Iran will be represented by its president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Putin, Xi, Pezeshkian as well as India’s Narendra Modi and Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif are due to take part in a plenary session chaired by Kyrgyz leader Sadyr Japarov. Putin is also expected to hold separate bilateral talks with Iran’s Pezeshkian and China’s Xi, among other leaders, Kremlin spokesman Yuri Ushakov said. Russia and Iran -- among the most sanctioned states in the world -- have massively deepened their military and economic ties during the Ukraine war. U.S. President Donald Trump has warned Moscow and Beijing against arming Iran. Putin’s meeting with Pezeshkian comes days after the CIA’s director John Ratcliffe made a rare trip to Moscow, with U.S. media speculating he could have discussed Ukraine and Iran with his Russian counterparts. The SCO has historically focused on economic issues. It gained momentum in recent years under Moscow’s and Beijing’s leadership. On top of its 10 members, it now has 15 “dialogue partners”, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It also has two observer countries: Afghanistan and Mongolia. The SCO’s founding declaration says the group is “not an alliance directed against other states”. But Putin and Xi have repeatedly made anti-Western speeches during its summits. At last year’s gathering, Putin accused Western countries of provoking the Ukraine war, while Xi denounced “acts of intimidation”, referring to U.S.-Chinese tensions. Real and trade wars The Bishkek summit takes place as some SCO members are in the midst of real wars -- the Ukraine and Iran conflicts -- or trade wars, with the imposition of U.S. tariffs on Chinese and Indian goods. This month, the U.S. slapped secondary sanctions on Iran’s trading partners in the sectors of gold, technology, digital assets, aviation, and maritime transport, aiming to cripple the Iranian regime. Washington also threatened Iran’s allies with sanctions. China, a major importer of Iranian oil, responded by saying it will “firmly defend” its interests. Iran, living under sanctions since its 1979 revolution ended with Islamic authorities taking charge, has regularly said it will not cave to economic pressure. But Pezeshkian has acknowledged his country faces “economic difficulties”. Iran only 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 U.S. and European sanctions”. But concrete benefits of the group are uncertain, he said, as “in times of crisis, these alliances have rarely allowed Iran to resolve its difficulties”. While the bloc claims to represent some 40 per cent of the world’s population and 25 per cent of global GDP, it remains diverse, with some disagreements among members. Russia and China compete for influence in Central Asia -- a resource-rich region crucial for the transport of goods between Europe and Asia -- while Beijing at times has had strained relations with India and Pakistan.
