Xi, Putin and Modi gather in Kyrgyzstan for SCO summit
Why it matters: Russia and China are using the bloc to project a non-Western alternative as Moscow's war in Ukraine and Iran's conflict with the U.S. and Israel continue.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in Bishkek on Monday as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization opened a summit in Kyrgyzstan. Putin held separate talks with Xi and Modi on the sidelines and said Russia was ready to make its visa-free regime with China permanent while ties with India were strengthening. Talks between Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are expected Tuesday. Founded in 2001 as a regional security forum, the SCO now has 10 members and has been promoted by China and Russia as a counterweight to Western-led groups such as the G7, even as member states remain divided by rivalries and competing interests.