Us, Sept. 13 -- The 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin (September 1, 2025) was the very first bilateral meeting between India and China since the Galwan Valley clashes in 2020. It was both symbolism and substance as India, represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pushed hard on issues of counter-terrorism and sovereignty, and President Xi Jinping projected the SCO as a platform for a regional order as versioned by China.

Also, with India drawing close to Russia, the India-China-Russia axis was more than just optics during the summit. While China's state media mostly saw it as "fruitful" and capable of "resetting" the bilateral ties between the two Asian giants, New Delhi's position in the light of unfoldin...