India's Balancing Act in Xi's SCO Arena

Though the SCO has provided space to India and Russia for diplomatic maneuverability, however, like BRICS, SCO remains China's arena.

- B.R. DEEPAK

China's hosting of the 25th SCO Headsof-State Summit in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1, 2025, marked the largest gathering in the organization's history.

President Xi Jinping used the platform to advance a sweeping Global Governance Initiative (GGI), underscoring SCO's evolution from a security bloc into a broader geopolitical and economic forum. The summit delivered the Tianjin Declaration, approved a development strategy.

through 2035, and unveiled multiple cooperation frameworks covering energy, AI, digital economy, and sustainable infrastructure.

With the relative decline of the US and broader Western dominance, Xi Jinping positioned China as a proponent of multipolarity and of building a fairer and more equitable international order. Xi's intervention comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has unsettled not only rivals but also allies through his sanctions and tariff policies, and China perceives both an opportunity and a normative responsibility to occupy the emerging governance space, particularly through institutional frameworks such as the SCO. Though the SCO has provided space to India and Russia for diplomatic manoeuvrability, however, like BRICS, SCO remains China's arena.