Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are attending a two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan. They are joined by other top leaders, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and India's Narendra Modi.
Marking its 25th anniversary, the SCO has strengthened trade ties among its members as the bloc seeks to be a counterinfluence to the West and present an alternative to the US-led world order. While the organization is not officially anti-West, Russian and Chinese leaders have used it to amplify their worldview.
On the sidelines of the summit, President Putin and President Xi met, with Putin stating that cooperation is successfully developing on all fronts. Additionally, President Pezeshkian held bilateral talks with Narendra Modi.
The gathering comes as several members face war, sanctions, and trade tensions with the West, underlining the bloc's growing geopolitical weight. The shifting power status of the Russian and Chinese leaders is expected to be front and center during the meetings.