Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kyrgyzstan on Monday.
The three national leaders will later attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian group of nations seeking to improve security and economic ties.
Originally a five-member regional group that included China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan which signed its first agreement in Shanghai, the SCO has since expanded to become the biggest regional organizations for cooperation. It includes ten permanent members, 15 dialogue partners and two observer states.
The group has a range of political, security and economic goals and has been called by its members a key mechanism in transition to a new multipolar world system, replacing the period of US unipolarity that followed the Cold War.
The SCO states say Western nations are engaging in increasingly hostile and disruptive activity as their global dominance slips away, and having a forum where other nations can agree on joint responses to new challenges becomes more important.
31 August 2026
Putin has also met with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Bishkek, according to a RIA Novosti correspondent.
Talks are reportedly taking place at the Ala-Archa state residence, where the Russian leader is holding a series of meetings after arriving in Kyrgyzstan on Monday.
Putin has met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the World Nomad Games in Bishkek.
The brief talks took place at Bishkek Arena, where both leaders attended the event as honorary guests.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Bishkek, with the two leaders discussing mounting regional tensions.
Sharif’s office said the two sides stressed the need to build on the understandings reached under the Islamabad-brokered ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. The talks came after US and Iranian forces exchanged strikes on Sunday night for the first time since late July, amid renewed US economic pressure on Tehran.
Rosatom considers cooperation within the SCO a top priority, CEO Aleksey Likhachev has told RT on the sidelines of the summit in Bishkek, outlining the Russian nuclear giant’s long-term plans within the group.
Likhachev also said the next power unit at a Rosatom-built nuclear plant in China has entered the physical startup stage. Meanwhile, the company continues to work with African partners on personnel training, infrastructure development, and nuclear legislation.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has thanked Putin for expressing readiness to host the 7th World Nomad Games in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan next year.
Japarov said Bishkek was ready to provide support for the event “at the highest level.”
More than 140 Russian athletes have taken part in the parade at the opening ceremony of the World Nomad Games in Bishkek.
Putin greeted the Russian team as they marched into Bishkek Arena.
The opening ceremony of the 6th World Nomad Games has kicked off at Bishkek Arena, Central Asia’s largest stadium, which is nearly at capacity for the event. Competitors from more than 100 countries are set to take part in traditional nomadic sports, including horseback riding, wrestling, archery, and falconry.
Putin and Modi arrived at the stadium together in an Aurus limousine, according to a RIA Novosti correspondent. Spectators began gathering four to five hours before the ceremony, with local singers and dancers entertaining the crowds ahead of the main show.
Putin told Modi that Moscow is making every effort to bring the ongoing hostilities in the Ukraine conflict to an end.
The Russian president was responding to Modi’s call for a peaceful settlement. The Indian prime minister said New Delhi supports all efforts toward achieving peace, describing it as “essential for all humanity.”
The number of Indian students coming to Russia has increased sevenfold in recent years, Putin has said.
It ranks among the top countries from which people travel to study in Russia, he added.
“Our cooperation is reaching new levels,” Modi has said during talks with Putin in Bishkek, adding that Russia and India will continue to follow the principle of “prioritizing the interests of their peoples.”
Putin’s visit to New Delhi in September will further strengthen bilateral ties, the Indian prime minster added.
Trade and economic ties between Russia and India continue to gain momentum, with bilateral turnover rising by more than 2% year-on-year, Putin said during talks with Modi.
The Russian president said relations between the two countries were deepening within the framework of their “special and privileged partnership,” crediting Modi’s personal attention to ties with Moscow as well as the “business and friendly relations” between the two leaders.
Putin also noted that tourist flows between Russia and India grew by 16% in 2025.
The meeting between Putin and Indian Prime Minister Modi is starting in Bishkek.
Meanwhile, Bishkek Arena is preparing for the opening ceremony of the Nomad Games later in the day.
Food and energy security are among the key issues to be discussed by SCO leaders, Putin’s foreign investment aide, Kirill Dmitriev, told journalist Aleksandr Yunashev in Bishkek.
Russia is a key contributor in both areas, Dmitriev said, stressing that Russian food deliveries to member states grew by 17% last year.
The US war on Iran and the latest escalation of the Ukraine conflict that caused major disruption in Black Sea trade have put additional pressures on global energy and food markets.
Russia values the temporary visa-free travel arrangement with China and is willing to turn the pilot into a permanent mechanism, Putin has told Xi during the opening part of the meeting.
The Russian president also reiterated condolences to all those affected by the recent deadly flood in the Tibet mountains, which predominantly hit Nepal but also impacted China’s Tibet autonomous region.
Putin also hailed as a significant achievement the first trip of a cargo ship with Chinese goods via the Northern Sea Route along Russia’s northern coast, which was completed earlier this month. The route has significant potential for faster and cheaper trade between Europe and Asia, compared to the traditional links via the Suez Canal.
The Putin-Xi meeting has started.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Bishkek.
Iran officially joined the SCO as its ninth member in 2023, after being an observer state for almost two decades.
The Russian leader is using an Aurus limo as his ground transport in Bishkek.
The creation of the domestic state car brand a few years ago was hailed as a major industrial achievement in Moscow.
Putin comes out of the aircraft.
Adylbek Kasymaliev, the chairman of the Kyrgyz cabinet of ministers, was waiting to greet the Russian leader at the bottom of the stairs.
Some members of the welcome party are dressed as characters from the Kyrgyz epic Manas. The capital’s airport was named the protagonist, the eponymous folk hero.
Women in traditional clothes and an honor guard are welcoming the Russian delegation.
Putin’s plane has touched down in Bishkek, footage from the Manas International Airport shows.
Russia and China consider each other strategic partners and describe their current relations as the closest in the history of the two nations.
The ties became increasingly important after the US declared both its strategic rivals whose power needed to be undercut to maintain Washington’s global positions.
In recent years the Russo-Chinese bilateral trade has largely shifted into domestic currencies, which protects it from the threat of Western sanctions.
Xi, who hosted the previous SCO summit in August-September 2025, is the first foreign leader on Putin’s public itinerary.
The in-person meeting is the second for the two leaders this year, though the specifics of their agenda have not been revealed to the public.
There is speculation in the Russian press about a possible breakthrough in negotiations on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline megaproject. The proposed route would link Russian natural gas fields in Western Siberia with Mongolian and Chinese consumers. Moscow and Beijing reportedly have yet to agree upon terms for volumes of supplied fuel and pricing.
On Monday, Putin will also attend the opening ceremony of the World Nomad Games, a championship for historic sports, in which Russia will be represented by 230 athletes from the parts of the country with strong nomadic cultural traditions. Participants of the games will be competing in horseback riding, wrestling, archery, falconry and other events.
SCO events on Tuesday will include a meeting of leaders, an expanded SCO+ meeting that includes partners and observers, as well as a number of bilateral meetings. The group intends to approve about two dozen documents, including an addendum to the organization’s charter, which was signed in 2002 in St. Petersburg.
Putin is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Xi and Modi on Monday. He will also have a one-on-one with Kazakhstan President Kasym-Zhomart Tokaev later in the day.
Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov described the meeting with Xi as “very important,” while calling the Modi contact a prelude to the Russian president’s state visit to New Delhi scheduled for September.