Brics Founders Modi, Putin and Xi Meet at SCO Summit

Talks in Bishkek

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed their strategic alliance on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Al Jazeera reported. It was their first meeting since May.

Xi told Putin that ties between Beijing and Moscow had grown "more solid" and that prospects ahead were "even brighter", while noting that "the amount of uncertainty and unpredictability in the international order has obviously increased". Putin replied that "cooperation is successfully developing on all fronts".

The two-day summit marks the 25th anniversary of the regional security and economic grouping. Al Jazeera said more than a dozen heads of state attended, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan present as a dialogue partner.

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India's position between blocs

The BBC describes Delhi as one of the founding members of the Brics grouping of nations, along with Russia and China. India is also a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation with both countries.

At the same time, the BBC notes, India belongs to the Quad group with Australia, Japan and the United States, an association Moscow has not been happy about. Russia still supplies around 40% of India's defence imports and has been a steady supplier of its energy needs.

The BBC frames this as India's policy of strategic autonomy. Western countries have pressed Modi to take a clear stand on the war in Ukraine, but Delhi has largely stayed neutral and urged dialogue instead.

Ukraine and terrorism on the agenda

Modi urged Putin to end the war, saying on Monday that "every day spent in war pushes humanity back, and every step taken towards peace fills humanity with new hope and enthusiasm". Al Jazeera reported the two leaders arrived in the same car for scheduled talks, with Modi saying New Delhi is ready to work for an end to the conflict and Putin saying Moscow was "following the path" towards a resolution, without elaborating.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media the leaders largely discussed economic relations and touched on Ukraine only "in passing". Al Jazeera said US-brokered peace talks remain stalled, and cited reports last week that CIA Director John Ratcliffe had visited Moscow.

The Hindu reported that on Tuesday, 1 September 2026, Modi urged the summit to confront countries using terrorism as an instrument of state policy and to reject "double standards", remarks widely viewed as a swipe at Pakistan. He spoke in the presence of Sharif and Xi.

What is not reported

None of the available sources describe a Brics meeting, statement or decision. The grouping appears only as background, in the BBC's account of India's overlapping memberships.

The sources also do not list the full Brics membership, set out its agenda, or say when its members next meet as a bloc. Those details are not known from this reporting.