The S.C.O. Displayed the Power of Numbers — and the Limits of Political Unity

When the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization gathered in a new congress hall in the Kyrgyz capital, the scale of the meeting carried a political message of its own. Seated around the same table were the leaders of China, Russia, India, Iran and the nations of Central Asia — countries that together represent more than 40 percent of the world’s population and nearly a quarter of its economy.

The summit, marking the 25th anniversary of the S.C.O., was intended to confirm that the center of international influence is gradually shifting toward Eurasia and the countries often described as the Global South. But its results also demonstrated something else: The organization has learned to negotiate sweeping declarations, yet it remains unable to act as a unified political bloc.

The leaders adopted the Bishkek Declaration and 27 other documents covering security, energy, artificial intelligence, transportation, climate and counternarcotics efforts. They approved regulations establishing a Universal Center for Countering Security Challenges and Threats and an Antidrug Center, as well as plans for cooperation on information security.

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, portrayed the gathering as part of a broader transformation of the international order. “The trend toward a multipolar world is irreversible,” he said, calling for countries of the Global South to receive greater representation in international institutions. Major powers, he added, should “take the lead in observing international norms and honoring the rule of law.”

But the application of those principles revealed the selective nature of the unity achieved in Bishkek.

In their final declaration, the participants condemned military strikes on Iranian territory, describing them as violations of international law and the United Nations Charter. At the same time, Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, left the door open to negotiations with Washington. “If the United States fulfills its commitments, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate,” he said, referring to agreements reached earlier.

The declaration, however, did not contain a single word about Russia’s war against Ukraine. That silence became one of the summit’s most conspicuous outcomes: The S.C.O. countries were prepared to speak collectively in defense of Iran but could not agree even on neutral language about the largest war in Europe since 1945.

The divisions were also visible outside the formal session. Meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India said humanity needed to move “from endless war to an end to the war, to a cessation of hostilities.”

“Every day that the war continues, humanity is, in effect, set back a step,” Mr. Modi said. Mr. Putin replied, “We are moving forward along this path.” But after the talks, the Russian leader said Moscow was winning on the battlefield and repeated conditions that Kyiv regards as demands for capitulation. The exchange captured the organization’s characteristic duality: India can publicly urge Russia to end the war while remaining one of the largest buyers of Russian oil.

The organization’s economic plans also continue to lag behind its political rhetoric. Mr. Putin endorsed the creation of an S.C.O. development bank that, he said, should be as independent as possible from the financial systems of countries that use economic instruments “as a weapon.” But S.C.O. governments have discussed such a bank for years without reaching agreement on its capital, its settlement currency or the distribution of influence within it.

Alexander Lukin, academic director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of China and Contemporary Asia, said the organization’s tangible economic achievements remained limited. The S.C.O. has adopted framework documents intended to facilitate trade, he noted, but has not created a financing mechanism comparable to the BRICS New Development Bank. China, he said, has therefore often preferred to pursue projects bilaterally.

Ekaterina Zaklyazminskaya, head of the Center for World Politics and Strategic Analysis at the same institute, cautioned against judging the S.C.O. by the standards of a military alliance. “This is framework cooperation, not an alliance,” she said. Its members assume no mutual-defense obligations and continue to act according to their national interests. In her assessment, the organization produces better results in areas where politics recedes into the background: regional security, digitalization, trade and green technologies. Expert assessments suggest that expansion has increased the organization’s weight while making decisions more difficult.

For China, that contradiction may be acceptable. Alexei Kupriyanov of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations described the S.C.O. as a rare successful multilateral institution in which Beijing plays a central role. Regionally, it provides China with a “safe north and safe west”; globally, it allows Beijing to demonstrate that non-Western countries are capable of building institutions of their own.

For Azerbaijan, which participated as an S.C.O. partner, transportation and economic opportunities matter more than ideological declarations. Baku is interested in connecting the Middle Corridor with routes across Central Asia and China, while preserving its relationships with Turkey, the European Union and the United States. President Ilham Aliyev’s brief conversation with Mr. Putin and his meetings with other leaders on the sidelines underscored that multipolar diplomacy.

Kyrgyzstan handed the organization’s rotating chairmanship to Pakistan, which will host the next summit. By then, it may be clearer whether the 28 documents adopted in Bishkek will be converted into functioning institutions.

For now, the S.C.O.’s strength lies not in unity but in its ability to keep countries with competing interests at the same table. That makes it an important forum for negotiation — but not yet a coherent alternative to the Western-led order.