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By Robert Birsel and Shane Croucher
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at an regional summit in China Monday, having hailed their new—and growing—alliances.
Modi spoke of deepening cooperation with Russia "in all areas" after an "excellent meeting" with Putin, and said relations with China had moved in "a meaningful direction."
Why It Matters
The warm words follow a souring of the U.S.-India relationship and tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Read More on World
President Donald Trump has imposed additional tariffs on Indian goods as punishment for India's purchases of oil from Russia, despite Western calls for a boycott of Russian energy exports because of the Ukraine war.
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What To Know
Modi met Putin on the second day of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Tianjin, China.
"I had an excellent meeting with President Putin on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tianjin," Modi posted to X on Monday, September 1. He also posted the message in Russian.
"We discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in all areas, including trade, fertilizers, space, security, and culture. We exchanged views on regional and global developments, including the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.
"Our Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership remains a key pillar of regional and global stability," Modi said.
India and Russia, or the Soviet Union as it was then, were Cold War allies for decades. But India later moved closer to the United States as New Delhi opened up its economy to the world and sought stronger alliances as it confronted China over disputed borders.
However, Trump's tough tariff policy has put paid to any prospect of Indian-U. S. cooperation, for now at least, and Modi's trip this week to China shows his intent on improving ties with both Beijing and Moscow.
A video clip from the SCO meeting showed a jovial exchange between Modi, Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
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Such a scene would have been almost unthinkable until recent weeks.
China and India nearly went to war over a Himalayan border dispute in 2020, when at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed in the Asian neighbors' first deadly military confrontation since 1975.
All three leaders are now united in opposition to a world order dominated by the United States.
Newsweek contacted the White House for comment by email after office hours.
At a meeting Sunday, Modi and Xi pledged to resolve their border differences and bolster cooperation.
Modi said in his opening remarks that relations with China have moved in "a meaningful direction." He stressed "the importance of peace and tranquillity on the border areas for continued development of bilateral relations."
Xi said he hoped the meeting will "further elevate" and "promote the sustained, healthy and stable development of bilateral relations," according to China's state broadcaster CCTV.
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Modi, in the bilateral meeting with Putin, termed the partnership with Russia "special and privileged." Putin addressed Modi as a "dear friend" and hailed Russia's ties with India as special, friendly and trusting, The Associated Press reported.
"Russia and India have maintained special relations for decades. Friendly, trusting. This is the foundation for the development of our relations in the future," Putin said. "These relations are absolutely nonpartisan in nature, supported by the overwhelming majority of the peoples of our countries."
Modi welcomed peace initiatives aimed at halting the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and called on the stakeholders to move forward constructively.
"To end the conflict soonest and establish peace permanently, we need to find out a way. It's a call of the entire humanity," Modi said.
China and India the biggest buyers of Russian crude oil.
In early August, Trump announced that he was hitting India with an additional 25 percent tariff for its continued purchasing of Russian oil, increasing overall duties on certain exports to 50 percent. The new tariffs started from August 27.
There is no sign that either India or China are going to stop buying Russia's oil, a key export for its war economy.
What People Are Saying
Trump in a post on Truth Social at the end of July wrote: "I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World. Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let's keep it that way."
Modi said in a speech to the SCO on Monday: "To confine the aspirations of the Global South to outdated frameworks is to deny justice to future generations … The SCO can play a guiding role in promoting multilateralism and an inclusive world order."
What Happens Next
The two-day meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional political and security organization founded in 2001, began on Sunday morning. Modi, Putin and Xi are among 20 world leaders in attendance.
Update 9/01/2025 5:15 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to include more information.
Reporting by The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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