PRESIDENTS XI JINPING and Vladimir Putin took turns to swipe at the West during a gathering of Eurasian leaders aimed at putting Beijing front and centre of regional relations.

They shared smiles for the cameras, including with India prime minister Narenda Modi, fresh off his nation getting rattled by an unexpected salvo of from Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) touts itself as a non-Western style of collaboration between 10 countries in the region and seeks to be an alternative to traditional alliances.

More than 20 leaders are attending the bloc’s largest meeting since it was founded in 2001.

Xi told leaders that the global situation was becoming more “chaotic and intertwined”.

The Chinese leader also slammed “bullying behaviour” from certain countries – a veiled reference to the United States.

“The security and development tasks facing member states have become even more challenging,” he said.

In his address in the northern port city of Tianjin, Xi said that with the world “undergoing turbulence and transformation”, leaders “must continue to follow the Shanghai spirit” of non-Western collaboration.

Xi, Putin and Modi were seen chatting, flanked by their translators.

The leaders of Russia, India and China pictured at the summit. Indian Prime Minister's Office via AP Indian Prime Minister's Office via AP

Modi and Putin were photographed holding hands and held talks in the afternoon.

Russian state media reported the pair spent nearly an hour talking “face-to-face” in Putin’s armoured presidential car before an official meeting.

“Conversations with him are always insightful,” Modi posted on X alongside a photograph of them travelling in the car.

Before their meeting, Modi praised the “special and privileged strategic partnership” with Moscow and added that India wanted both sides in the Ukraine conflict to “find stable peace”.

After the proceedings at the SCO Summit venue, President Putin and I travelled together to the venue of our bilateral meeting. Conversations with him are always insightful. pic.twitter.com/oYZVGDLxtc

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 1, 2025

Putin used his speech to defend Russia’s Ukraine offensive, blaming the West for having “provoked” the three-and-a-half year conflict that has killed tens of thousands and devastated much of eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry urged China to work towards peace during Putin’s visit, saying in a statement from Kyiv they “would welcome a more active role” for Beijing to help find peace “based on respect for the UN Charter”.

Earlier, leaders from the 10 countries – China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus – posed for a group photo on a red carpet.

The SCO summit kicked off on Sunday, days before a massive military parade in Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II.

The member states signed a declaration today agreeing to strengthen cooperation in sectors such as security and economy, China’s Xinhua news agency said.

Thaw in China-India relationship

Xi held a flurry of back-to-back meetings with leaders including Modi, who is on his first visit to China since 2018.

Modi told Xi that India was committed to taking “forward our ties on the basis of mutual trust, dignity and sensitivity”.

The world’s two most populous nations are intense rivals, competing for influence across South Asia, and fought a deadly border clash in 2020.

A thaw began last October, when Modi met Xi for the first time in five years at a summit in Russia.

Their rapprochement deepened as US President Donald Trump pressured both Asian economic giants with trade tariffs.

Many of the assembled dignitaries will be in Beijing on Wednesday to watch the military parade, which will also be attended by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

With reporting by © Agence France-Presse