Putin, Modi and Xi send Trump a message at China summit

Tianjin, China – A private car trip with Vladimir Putin may not be as special as President Donald Trump thought.

With rear bromance at the rear, as well as the workforce and the hugs, the Russian chief, his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, and their host, the Chinese chef Xi Jinping, put a display on Monday which seemed designed to turn the heads in Washington.

The three leaders have marked long -standing positions in the comments at this key regional summit in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, but the tenor and the moment of the trio embrace were impossible to ignore.

India, long run by the West as a crucial and counterweight Asian partner in China, was shaken by Trump’s prices; The Kremlin publicly dismissed the Washington Peace Pushing in Ukraine; And Beijing continues to strive with the United States on trade, Taiwan and global influence.

In the middle of this tensions, the comfortable optics of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) (SCO) has appeared a clear signal in the face of American pressure.

A few weeks after Trump and Putin made the headlines with a protocol stroll in “The Beast” at their Alaska summit, Modi joined the Russian leader for a road at the back of the armored Limo of Putin – a declaration of distrust not so subtle for the purchase of Russian oil.

Russian media journalist Pavel Zarubin said the pair had spent almost an hour in the car before carrying out bilateral talks.

“I always think you meet has been a memorable experience,” Modi told Putin later during talks.

The Russian chief called Modi his “dear friend”, marrying the relations of Russia and “friendly and confident” India.

In a speech for the delegates, Putin said that “understanding” reached its summit with Trump could form the basis of peace in Ukraine, but he gave little indication of a change in his position and expressed his usual reprimand to blame the “constant attempts of the West to lead Ukraine towards Otat” for having caused war.

“A completely unilateral disaster!

Perhaps by watching Washington, Trump said on Monday that the relationship between India and the United States had been “a completely unilateral disaster!” and reprimanded New Delhi for buying “most of its oil and military products from Russia” and “very little in the United States”

He said India had now proposed to reduce their prices on American products to zero. “But it’s late,” added Trump.

Whether Tianjin’s theaters have been spontaneous or carefully planned, “the message remains the same,” said Keir Giles, main member of the London Catham House reflection group at NBC News.

“The close relationship that Trump has sought with Putin is now exposed between Putin and others,” he said, adding that the United States had “given India a real cause to seek friendship and partnership elsewhere”.

This friction also gave India a reason to “repair the fences” with China, said Alyssa Ayres, a senior member of India, Pakistan and South Asia to the foreign relations council.

India has “a lot of problems”, with China, she said, “but it’s just on their border, and it is their biggest trading partner in goods”.

XI, for his part, criticized the “intimidation behavior” of the nameless countries, a veiled reference in the United States

He described his long-standing ambition to challenge the economic and world security order led by the United States. “We must continue to take a clear position against hegemonism and the policy of power and practice real multilateralism,” he said, while presenting a new “global governance initiative” which lacked concrete policies.

Talk to Tianjin

A large part of this northeast port city was on locking before the summit, the largest since the OCS foundation in 2001.

China has welcomed dozens of leaders from Eurasian member states and other partner and observers for trade on trade, energy cooperation and regional stability. Their motorcycles stopped the car and pedestrians, the area around the place of the sprawling event on locking and safety intensified at the city station.

Obstacles to security and police control points were present in all Tianjin, the usual prudence of the authorities exacerbated by a spectacular military parade which should take place on Wednesday in neighboring Beijing.

The emphasis on the growing summit, which is part of the long -standing efforts of China to challenge American domination, has only been amplified this year by global upheavals in the Trump era and other foreign policy changes.

India and China have long overwhelmed on their Himalayan border, their trade tensions and Beijing’s support at the Rivale de India, Pakistan.

But the shared grievances – including Trump’s prices, which in the Chinese case reached 145% – helped cut an common ground.

In this context, Moda’s first visit to China in seven years and his apparent camaraderie with XI and Putin seemed particularly striking.

While Modi joyfully joined Trump’s hand during a rally massive in Texas in 2019, Indian media seized his friendship with Putin on Monday as a message of challenge against the United States

The Indian television channel Republic World described this as a “great diplomatic victory” for India, while a title on the news channel AAJ Tak directed “Trump’s dictator against Modi-Putin’s friendship”.

Following the Tianjin summit, the United States Embassy in India stressed that the partnership between the two nations “continues to reach new heights”, covering “innovation and entrepreneurship, defense and broader bilateral links”.

But the message, from Modi as well as Xi and Putin, seemed clear: they can have differences, but they are ready to stand up – or sit down – together.

Janis MacKey Frayer reported Tianjin and Freddie Clayton from London.

Fixed (September 2, 2025, 2 a.m.): A previous version of this article disturbed the year of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It was in 2001, not in 2002.