suwandi-tan
Leaders from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are preparing to gather in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, for the group's annual summit. This year's summit, which commemorates the 25th anniversary of the SCO, is scheduled to begin on Monday and will focus on promoting a multipolar world order and enhancing mutual trade ties, particularly against the backdrop of recent global conflicts and unilateral foreign policies.
The summit comes at a critical time, as the world grapples with the repercussions of the US-Israel war on Iran, which has caused disruptions in global energy and financial markets, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Analysts have suggested that the SCO summit is a pivotal opportunity for the organisation's member states to strengthen their cooperation and push for a more multipolar global order.
The event, themed "Together for Sustainable Peace, Development, and Prosperity," will bring together leaders from other SCO member states such as Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and others. Notably, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn are also expected to participate.
William Yang, a senior analyst for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group, highlighted the summit's significance, noting that the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Europe are straining the international order based on rules. He suggested that the summit serves as a crucial platform for rising global powers such as China and India to expand their influence and deepen their engagement with other countries in the Global South.
The SCO, which originated in 1996 as a security bloc called the "Shanghai Five," has evolved over the years and now includes India and Pakistan, along with Iran and Belarus as full members. The organisation accounts for 43 percent of the world's population and 23 percent of the global economy, making it a significant player on the world stage.
Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at French investment bank Natixis, described the summit as particularly important due to its anniversary and the potential to turn the Tianjin strategy, which calls for a multipolar world order, into actionable goals. She noted that the summit's focus on fostering mutually beneficial international cooperation is particularly relevant in light of the current global landscape.
The presence of Xi, Modi, and Putin at the same event is a significant development, given the ongoing India-China border talks and the warming of relations between New Delhi and Beijing. Garcia-Herrero described this as a "visible test of how far the recent thaw goes and how Eurasia wants to organise security, connectivity, and trade without defaulting to Western institutions."
While the SCO has been perceived as a counterbalance to the US-led Asia Pacific alliance, Alejandro Reyes, an adjunct professor at the University of Hong Kong, emphasized that the SCO is not a coherent anti-US or anti-Western alliance. Instead, it is a forum where countries with diverse interests can demonstrate alternatives and strategic room for maneuver in a geopolitical order dominated by China and the US.
As the summit approaches, the expectations are high for tangible outcomes that could reshape the global order. Whether the SCO will be able to use this opportunity to advance a multipolar world and promote cooperation on trade and security issues remains to be seen.
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