Tianjin, China: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday opened the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, attended by more than 20 world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Leaders from the 10 SCO member states posed for a group photo on a red carpet, with Xi, Putin and Modi seen chatting in live footage. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and other Heads of States/Heads of Governments pose for a group photograph at the Shanghai Cooperation Council (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China,” the government said in a statement.

The visuals also showed Modi, Xi and Putin interacting as delegations arrived for the Heads of State Council meeting.

Modi arrived in Tianjin on Saturday for a two-day official visit to attend the 25th SCO Heads of State Council summit, scheduled from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1.

On Sunday, Modi held bilateral talks with Xi on the sidelines of the summit. Both leaders “welcomed the positive momentum and steady progress in bilateral relations since their last meeting in Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in October 2024.”

They reaffirmed that India and China “were development partners and not rivals and that their differences should not turn into disputes.” The two leaders also called for “a stable relationship and cooperation between India and China based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity, necessary for the growth and development of the two countries, as well as for a multipolar world and a multipolar Asia befitting the trends of the 21st century.”