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

• Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on 4 Jul 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 he crushed a mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group in late Jun 23.
• The summit takes place barely two weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hosted by U.S. 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 in 2022, and Beijing’s growing assertive presence in the global geopolitical theatre.

External Link : https://www.reuters.com/world/india/putin-xi-attend-virtual-sco-summit-hosted-by-indias-modi-2023-07-04/