The Tianjin Trifecta

Is India the face of the forces directed by Russia in a new, turbocharged geopolitical vehicle designed and built by China?

- Shastri Ramachandaran

THE show—the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) summit in China’s Tianjin—staged for the benefit of US President Donald Trump is over. The three-horse performance of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had its intended impact, and in spades, on the audience of one.

With the gaslights and optics of the summit on August 31-September 1 now dimmed, it is time to take a close look at what trimurti Putin-Modi-Xi accomplished in a setting that had more than 20 countries in attendance as members and dialogue partners, including global players like Iran and Türkiye. In a reference to the US and its tariff war, but without naming the country, the SCO Tianjin Declaration opposed unilateral coercive measures that are in contravention of the United Nations Charter, the norms of international law and the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles and rules. The Declaration called for reform of the global governance architecture and pledged to uphold and strengthen an open, fair, inclusive, nondiscriminatory and multilateral trading system which promotes the development of “an open global economy, ensures fair market access and provides special and differential treatment for developing countries”.

Shorn of the verbiage, it simply means to resist Trump’s tariff onslaught and the US-led West's attempt to dictate the terms of trade worldwide. The Declaration, with India as a signatory, condemned the strikes by Israel and the US on Iran, which is an SCO member. An important side effect is that post-Tianjin, international interest in Ukraine has waned; and, as a result, Putin, who was isolated till recently, is basking in the warmth of new fellow travellers on the world stage.