Putin, Xi to attend virtual SCO summit hosted by India's Modi

Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Tuesday will hold an online summit hosted by India seeking to expand the influence of the Eurasian group by including Iran and opening a path to membership for Belarus.

China’s President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will participate in the virtual summit, which will be Putin’s first appearance at an international event since the short-lived mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group in late June.

Formed in 2001 by China and Russia, with former Soviet central Asian states as members and joined later by India and Pakistan, the eight-member SCO is a political and security group that seeks to counter Western influence in Eurasia.

While Iran is expected to be accepted as a member at Tuesday's summit, Belarus will sign a memorandum of obligations which will lead to its membership later. When both countries, which have observer status and enjoy close ties to Moscow, are accepted as members of the SCO it will expand the grouping's western flank in both Europe and Asia.

The summit takes place barely two weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hosted by US President Joe Biden for a state visit, and the two countries called themselves "among the closest partners in the world".

India, which holds the presidency of SCO and the G20 this year, has walked a diplomatic tightrope as relations between Western nations and a Russia-China partnership have been fraught due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year, and Beijing’s growing assertive presence in the global geopolitical theatre.

SCO member nations are expected to discuss Afghanistan, terrorism, regional security, climate change and digital inclusion, among other topics.