Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif looks on as PM Modi, Xi and Putin hold informal chat on sidelines of SCO plenary session | Watch

PM Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the plenary session.

In a strong imagery that has a strong geopolitical implications , Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif looked on as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held an informal chat minutes ahead of the plenary session of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tianjin.

The SCO summit kicked off on Sunday in the northern port city of Tianjin, days before a massive military parade in the capital Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II. “Prime Minister will be addressing the plenary session of the Summit, where he will outline India’s approach to fostering regional cooperation under the SCO umbrella,” said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.

The meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit received significant coverage in China Daily, a top Chinese newspaper.

Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organisations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, noted that the growing partnership between Russia, India, and China is the formation of a “qualitatively new system” in international relations amid global uncertainties, particularly economic concerns due to the US tariffs.

Former Indian diplomat Veena Sikri has emphasised that peace and tranquillity along the India-China border remain fundamental to any meaningful progress in bilateral relations between the two nations, asserting that the trust deficit created by the 2020 Galwan incident has cast a long shadow over the diplomatic engagement.