“Over the past twenty-four years, the SCO has played a vital role in connecting the extended family across the Eurasian region. As an active member, India has always contributed in a constructive and positive manner. India’s vision and policy towards the SCO are built on three key pillars: S – Security; C – Connectivity; O – Opportunity.”
– Hon’ble Prime Minister of India (SCO Summit 2025, Tianjin)
The Tianjin Catch-Up
The world media and of course, all the global citizens might have come across the “pictorial-bonhomie” between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the Chinese Premier Xi, at the Tianjin meetup on the sidelines of the SCO Summit at Tianjin. In the backdrop of the world economic crisis, highlighted by tariff wars, and President Trump’s regular triads on trade and international services exchange; the SCO summit was quite a spectacle to watch, in the light of raging Russia-Ukraine war, declining significance of European Union, and its constituent components, amongst other world happenings.
The global dynamics of the world are ever-changing more so, now, when the world has seen the Russian side engaging with the Ukrainian side, the India-Pakistan limited warfare, the Iran-Israel warfare, and the regular strikes between Gaza and Israel, with Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis also coming into the picture. Not to say, that the Gulf region is in a doubtful position itself due to rapidly changing alliance-support, the South East Asian countries have grappled over succession wars, impeachment motions, and fights over significant structures (Thailand-Cambodia, Preah Vihar case), the growing significance of BRICS and transnational as well as trans-regional blocs like SCO, ASEAN, QUAD, and the Troika bonhomie of RIC (Russia, India, and China) – the world for sure looks literally opposite of what it looked at New Year’s Eve, 2025.
The SCO Summit: Precursor to the Upcoming Global Reality
Of course, if dynamics change, so do policies. In international relations, there are no permanent friends or enemies, there are only permanent interests. And interests keep changing, as usual. The economic war that is being waged on by India’s American counterparts, is something in response to what and how India sees itself in the future, and that image of India, is of the Rising Asian Elephant. The picture of the Chinese Dragon and the Indian Royal Elephant engaging in a Tango, is not lost on any of the global players. India has had always a very nuanced foreign policy and strategic diplomatic standing in the world. It has not played hide-and-seek in any of her relationships. The harmonious balance of international diplomatic and strategic relationships have always been the top priority for India, without trying to build any intentional enemies or foes.
And this is the exact same reason why the bonhomie was so natural between India, Russia, and China at the SCO. This would not have happened without the United States actually trying to preach India and China, as well as Russia, on how they should take care of their energy needs or how should they conduct themselves in the global realm. Russian President Putin recently gave a statement after the SCO meeting that India and China cannot be preached like a colonised imperial subsidiary as to how they should behave, because both these nations are independent, sovereign, strengthened, well-reasoned, logically and rationally inclined nations, that deserve an equitable treatment, and not a sermon-class. The summit was really a rare global choreography of nations, which not always have congruent interests.
China and India are on a road to solve much of their crisis (of course, with India treading the line carefully) by resuming Kailash Mannsarovar Yatra, resuming direct flights, and regular military hotline talks; while Russia and India have stood by each other when they both were dictated to change the course of their energy demand and supply chains.
This Troika had been building since March of this year and has now showing signs of fruitive results at the SCO Summit. The direct hit at the Pahalgam terrorist attack in India, was declared as preposterous and condemned collectively on the joint declaration, which by all means, is a major strategic win, because even President Xi mentioned the same in his statement. This is a rare strategic win, and shows the much-acclaimed Indian diplomatic prowess. The collective vow to fight extremism, terrorism, and separatism was also upheld; with connectivity also being discussed, but with much caution and futuristic balance. Maintaining a harmonious equilibrium in national sovereignty, regional integration, economic development, geopolitical sensitivities, and broader complexities at a forum like SCO is not at all easy, because almost all nations have at least one point of bitter contention.
But the same was achieved, and it’s no easy play. This shows that when nations want to come together, they can put their conflicting interests at abeyance, and prove to be a stronger grouping, than any other. Significant strides have also been made in the areas of artificial intelligence, developing SCO’s own bank to avoid any shocks from sudden global dynamic changes, youth empowerment, and economic pragmatism. The voice to develop a more multilateral rules-based global order was also echoed and it sure did reach the right shores on both sides of the Atlantic. This bonding between nations such as India, Russia, and China at the SCO summit, also gives an inkling that the dormant RIC Forum can also be revived and can be helped to achieve its capable potential. Therefore, analysing RIC also becomes pertinent, at this point.
Russia, India, and China: The RIC Paradigm
While the SCO summit was underway, Russia took the stand and affirmed that it wished to revive the now-dormant but extremely capable RIC Troika forum. This becomes quintessential and inevitable in light of the shifting geopolitical alliances, unwanted and unsuspected economic burdens, and preachy sermons all over. It was only after the collapse of the USSR, that the then Russian Prime Minister Primakov conceptualised the concept of RIC. Its basic purpose was to counter western dominance by bringing in the three youthful nations, with utmost potential to develop economically, militarily and globally in the coming decades.
The forum of course, was meant to bring a multi-polar understanding to American-European understanding of the world events. US Protectionism, trade diversification, dollar monopolisation, economic sanctions, and a want to develop a multilateral world order – were the key driving factors behind the forum itself. However, the engaging Indo-Chinese rivalry, clashing military interests, economic challenges, demographic standoffs, divergent strategic priorities, western engagement, and institutional hollowness were the main dampeners of the forum. But RIC of course, has got a lot of potential and diplomatic balancing, strategic signalling, geopolitical active engagement, and a more active voice for the South Asian, and global south nations can actually bring out the adaptability, capability, and potential of the RIC to the surface and enlighten the world through its active purpose-driven approach.
Parting Note
Conclusively speaking, India, China and Russia have a lot of potential in their troika-powered relationship, and the same should be resourced strategically and geo-politically. These three nations have the potential to bring global order in the world and think about global interests in the best way possible. They have the potential to usher in a new global order of multilateralism, and widespread global economic and military reforms, beneficial to the whole world. This shall not only prevent the negative effects of US protectionism to penetrate deeper in global demand and supply chains, but will also prevent monopolisation at a large scale. Thus, the Troika is most probably the next big thing of the 21st century after the AI Revolution, and who knows that the SCO Summit was the first successful push to that realistic future opportunity for Asia.
