It may take a few weeks to finally assess the impact of the SCO summit on the world politics, which concluded on September one in China, attended by the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, Russian President, Vladimir Putin and indeed, hosted by the Chinese dictator, Xi Jinping, but initial reactions indicate that few rule out the possible outcome of the two-day summit that it would soon be re-defining the world’s geopolitics.
Interestingly, in his bid to embarrass India and PM Modi, on many counts, US President Donald Trump, a Republican, who appears to have made self-goals in a bid express his anger that despite his repeated statements that he had enforced a ceasefire between India and Pakistan during the Operation Sindoor in May this year, and subsequently, India’s refusal to endorse his claim, and despite American sanctions, she continued to buy Russian oil. Also, his much-trumpeted Alaska Summit could not offer any strategic or financial mileage Washington might have hoped.
Even with the ongoing tariff drama, instead of hurting India, the SCO summit has paved the way for much more intense economic and strategic cooperation among the three countries or perhaps in other geographies too, China, India and Russia might work out a trade regime minus dollar as the prime currency for international trade.
It may be recalled that in February 1972, the then US President Richard Nixon, also a Republican like Trump, who had made a historic visit to China from February 21 to 28, 1972, had successfully wrested the Asian giant to the western fold, thus changing the then play in the geopolitics. Nearly more than half-a-century later, the stupidity of the Trump Administration has brought Russia, India and China or RIC together. With the big brother attitude of Xi Jinping the standoff between China and India could not be resolved in Tibet. The SCO summit, however, has ignited the hope that Jinping might quietly implement the dream of his predecessor, Deng Xiapo, by recognising international borders between India and Tibet.
It cannot be denied that Nixon was quite prophetic, when he had called his visit to China “the week that changed the world”. Indeed, it led to the collapse of the USSR, and thus, made the US as the unchallenged only Super Power on the earth, but the contemporary buffoons in White House have brought Russia, India and China together, which Washington would have never approved.
On February 27, 1972, the United States and China had issued a historical joint communique, which is remembered as the Shanghai Communique, bringing the Communist giant abandoning its Soviet ally. The success of Nixon could be attributed to the nearly seven -month conflict between the Soviet Army and Chinese forces. Also, Mao had psychological hatred against the then Soviet leadership under Nikita Khurshev.
The history, however ,appears to be repeating itself 53 years later, when the top leaders of China, Russia and India accompanied by other friendly countries met on August 31 and September one, 2025 under the banner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at a picturesque location in China in Tianjin. They appear to be forming a joint front against the ‘erratic trade policies’ being announced from the White House daily, mostly hitting the countries like India, Russia and China and also indirectly adversely affecting the fragile economies of the developing countries of Asia and Africa.
Interestingly, if Nixon’s visit had paved the way for the USA to emerge as the sole superpower on the earth, the SCO Tianjin Summit 2025, a silver jubilee event of this organization, appears to be heralding a joint front against the USA by the rest of the world. It may also be scripting an epitaph finally challenging the current American hegemony in world affairs, including its big business corporations using the cheaper labour of China, India and other countries for keeping the American economy a formidable force to reckon with.
The SCO comprises 10 member-states: Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and now Belarus too has joined the group. It had enrolled , which officially joined in July 2024, making it the newest member.
The two-day SCO Tianjin Summit 2025 is the 25th Heads of State Council meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which took place in Tianjin may be quietly undermining the benefits the US had been enjoying following the culmination of Nixon and Kissinger’s week-long visit to China. Indeed, Nixon’s statement has been proved prophetic that China-US ties finally weakened the USSR, which had finally led to its disintegration of the USSR in 15 independent countries Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Admittedly, Trump is no match to a cunning person like Nixon and his visionary National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger. It may be recalled that seven months before Nixon’s visit, in July 1971, Kissinger had quietly flown from an American base in Pakistan, to have an audience with the then chairman of the Communist Party of China Mao Zedong . On other hand, Trump offered the Pakistani army chief, Asim Munir, ‘halal’ meat at an unprecedented luncheon meeting held in White House to honour an army general to win radical Muslims in Pakistan. He, perhaps, hopes that under the spell of radical Islam, the ethnic minorities in Pakistan and Bengali Muslims would soon be forgetting the atrocities of the US-led West in committing atrocities against the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent.
It cannot be denied that initially,Trump’s tariff regime has adversely affected the vital strategic interests of the US and its allies across the continents and with its weakening for Modi, it is a period of jubilation that on the global platform, he is the most sought after statesman.
Gopal Misra has been associated with national and international media. His books on journalism and geo-politics have been well-appreciated. Views are personal.
