Big smiles, hearty laughs, warm hugs…
The atmosphere at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China feels more like a school reunion, where old classmates compare how much weight they have put on.
Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi – who represent the top three largest powers not aligned with the West – are shown joking like friends as they greet each other at the event earlier today.
It starts with Russia’s president and India’s prime minister holding hands and walking into a meeting hall filled with other world leaders.
They head straight for China’s president Xi Jinping, enthusiastically shake hands and form a close circle.
In his remarks to open the talks, Modi then describes the partnership with Russia as ‘special and privileged.’
And Putin them addresses Modi as a ‘dear friend’ and hails Russia’s ties with India as special, friendly and trusting.
As intended, this anti-Western coalition – dubbed the ‘axis of upheaval’ – appears united to offer an alternative world order, challenging the US.
Keir Giles, a leading analyst on European defence and Russia at Chatham House in London, told Metro that the relationships on display are ‘a visual reminder of the way alliances have formed in the global confrontation.’
He added: ‘The coalition that stands against the liberal democracies has a mutual understanding, which is far more developed and purposeful than that of the group of Western democracies, which are still floundering on how to defend themselves.
‘To some extent, it does represent a broad consensus about how the world should be run – and it is a very different consensus to the one that prevails in Europe and in other Western democracies.’
What Giles thought was ‘most disturbing’ is the way this close relationship on display between Russia and China was ‘mimicked’ by Donald Trump during the summit in Alaska earlier in August.
Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) (Picture: Metro)
He explained: ‘Trump also welcomed Putin as though he was greeting an overlord rather than dealing with a pariah state that is vastly weaker that his own.
‘The Alaska Summit is a confirmation that the US’ place in the coalition of democracies is no longer assured.
‘The way in which the US has been so eager to pursue Russia’s desired policies with regards to Ukraine and elsewhere is not a surprise, but still seems to shock to Europe and other democracies around the world.’
The SCO, set up in 2001, is the successor to the Shanghai Five, a grouping of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, set up in 1996.
It now also includes India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus and Uzbekistan. It is aimed at strengthening relations among member states and promoting cooperation in political affairs, economics, and trade.
Xi told the SCO leaders that the global international situation is becoming more ‘chaotic and intertwined’.
The Chinese leader also slammed the ‘bullying behaviour’ from certain countries – a veiled reference to the US.
He added: ‘The security and development tasks facing member states have become even more challenging.
‘With the world undergoing turbulence and transformation, we must continue to follow the Shanghai spirit…and better perform the functions of the organisation.’
Putin used his speech to defend his invasion of Ukraine, blaming the West for triggering the three-and-a-half year war.
He warned: ‘This crisis was not triggered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but was a result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West.
‘The second reason for the crisis is the West’s constant attempts to drag Ukraine into Nato.’
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