India at SCO 2025: Balancing Between US, Russia & China

The 25th SCO Summit in Tianjin (31 Aug – 01 Sept) marked a critical moment in India’s diplomatic balancing act.

With China hosting and Russia deepening its Eurasian outreach, India used the platform to reiterate its priorities — countering cross-border terrorism, pushing connectivity on its own terms through Chabahar and INSTC, and strengthening links with Central Asia.

On the sidelines, Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with President Putin signalled continuity in energy and defence ties. Yet the backdrop could not be sharper: Donald Trump declaring that “we lost India to Russia and dark China,” even as Modi underlined the importance of the U.S.–India relationship.

Has India managed to turn SCO into a platform that serves its interests without getting pulled into China and Russia’s orbit? In this week’s Defence Mantra, Nitin Gokhale decodes India’s takeaways from Tianjin and the road ahead for its strategic partnerships.