Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and more than a dozen other world leaders are set to gather in Kyrgyzstan on Monday for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), as the grouping marks 25 years since its establishment.

The summit in the capital Bishkek is expected to focus on regional cooperation, economic ties and security, while Russia and China are likely to use the platform to advance their vision of a multipolar international order and strengthen coordination amid tensions with Western countries.

According to Al Jazeera, the SCO has traditionally concentrated on economic and regional issues, but Putin and Xi have increasingly used its meetings to project closer strategic cooperation and challenge what they view as Western dominance in global affairs.

The SCO's founding declaration states that the organisation is “not an alliance directed against other states.” However, at last year's summit, Putin accused Western countries of provoking the war in Ukraine, while Xi criticised what he described as “acts of intimidation” amid growing tensions between China and the United States.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are also expected to attend the summit. Turkiye is not a full member of the SCO but is among the organisation's dialogue partners.

Pezeshkian is expected to hold bilateral talks with Putin on the sidelines of the summit. The two countries have strengthened military and strategic cooperation, while Iran has also deepened its economic and energy relations with China since joining the SCO as a full member in 2023.

The summit will bring together representatives of the SCO's 10 permanent members, alongside 15 dialogue partners, including Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Leaders from India and Pakistan, both full members of the organisation, are also expected to participate.

The SCO says its members collectively account for around 40 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of global GDP, giving the organisation significant weight in international affairs.

The Bishkek summit comes amid renewed tensions over global trade. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called for G20 members to reconsider their trade relations with China, criticising Beijing's reported $1.2 trillion global trade surplus.

Bessent said China's economy was relatively weak and argued that Beijing was attempting to rely on exports to offset domestic economic pressures. He is also expected to hold bilateral discussions with People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng during a G20 finance leaders' meeting in the United States.

BOB Post