Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Kyrgyzstan where he is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 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
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.
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.