Overview

• The two‑day meeting in Tianjin brings together about twenty leaders, including Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi, in the biggest SCO gathering since the organization’s 2001 founding.
• The Kremlin confirmed a Putin–Modi meeting during the summit, with a Xi–Modi session also planned as the Indian leader makes his first China visit in seven years.
• Members are expected to approve a Tianjin Declaration and a development strategy for 2026–2035, alongside cooperation documents on security, the economy and culture.
• Putin and Iran’s Masud Pezeshkian will remain in China for a Sept. 3 military parade in Beijing showcasing new Chinese weaponry, with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un among the expected foreign guests.
• China is promoting the forum as a pillar of a multipolar order, but the SCO’s lack of mutual‑defense commitments and internal rifts—such as India–Pakistan tensions and India’s objections to joint texts—temper expectations for binding outcomes.