Is India sending a message to ‘China’s show’ as Narendra Modi skips SCO summit?

As Chinese, Russian leaders increase alignment during the Central Asian security forum, New Delhi’s strained ties with Beijing are likely to persist, observers say

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One analyst said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absence from this year’s SCO summit was likely due to busy domestic and travelling schedules. Photo: AP

Published: 12:00pm, 4 Jul 2024

As the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation convenes this week in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana, Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to use the forum to renew calls for a multipolar global order amid heightened tensions with Western nations.

The Central Asian economic and security alliance – established by China and Russia in 2001 – accounts for more than 40 per cent of the world’s population, and is on track to expand to 10 members this year with the addition of Belarus.

But while Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in another sign of deepening cooperation, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to skip the meeting, sending his foreign minister in his place. Modi’s absence is being seen in some corners as a bid to play down the significance of the summit amid New Delhi’s efforts to strike a delicate balance in its foreign policy.

Zhang Baohui, an international relations professor at Lingnan University in Hong Kong who specialises in Asia-Pacific studies, said Modi’s no-show made it clear that India was distancing itself from the SCO.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, and a state visit at the invitation of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Photo: Xinhua

India, which joined the group along with rival Pakistan in 2017, hosted the annual summit virtually last year, a move that was interpreted by many as India’s attempt to avoid direct interactions with China and Russia, both of which have strained relations with the West.