World leaders participating in SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan

The annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has started in the Central Asian country Kyrgyzstan on the completion of 25 years of its establishment. More than a dozen top leaders of the world including President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of China Xi Jinping are participating in this summit that started on Monday (August 31).

This summit organised in the context of the multi-faceted concerns of the United States centring China is being considered extremely significant.

Although historically SCO has mainly given importance on regional economic cooperation in recent times Putin and Xi Jinping are using this stage as a medium of promoting ‘multipolar world order’ and expressing a united position against the West.

Although it was mentioned as ‘not an alliance operated against any other state’ in the declaration of the time of establishment of the organisation the impression of international political tension is clear in the recent summits.

In last year’s summit President Putin had directly held the Western countries responsible for instigating the Ukraine war. On the other hand President Xi Jinping condemned the activities of showing fear-threat by pointing towards the United States-China relations.

Representatives of 10 countries are participating as full members in this year’s summit. Alongside the top leaders of 15 countries associated as ‘Dialogue Partners’ are also joining it, among whom Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are notable.

President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan are also scheduled to be present in this year’s summit. However Turkey is not a member of this organisation.

President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian and President of Dialogue Partner Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan are scheduled to be present at the summit. A bilateral meeting of President of Iran Pezeshkian with President of Russia Putin is scheduled to be held in Bishkek on the sidelines of the summit. Besides, the leaders of full members of SCO India and Pakistan are also expected to join the world leaders in Bishkek.

This alliance claims that they represent about 40 percent of the total population of the world and 25 percent of the global gross domestic product.