Safety. Alternative. Connectivity.
On the floor, it was a diplomatic speech. Beneath that, it was a strategic message, aimed not solely at SCO members but additionally on the wider geopolitical viewers watching intently.
Safety first, no exceptions
For Modi, the precedence is obvious: safety underpins improvement. “Safety, peace and stability are the premise of improvement of any nation. However terrorism, separatism and extremism are huge challenges on this path,” he informed fellow leaders.
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Terrorism, he careworn, just isn't a localised risk. “No nation, no society, no citizen can contemplate itself protected from it.” The message was pointed, directed at regional actors accused of harbouring or tolerating terrorist teams.
With out naming Pakistan, Modi requested: “Can the open assist of terrorism by some nations be acceptable to us?” He warned in opposition to double requirements, urging the SCO to “oppose terrorism in each color and kind.”
India's expertise with cross-border terrorism is painfully tangible. “So many moms misplaced their youngsters and so many youngsters grew to become orphans,” he mentioned, invoking the April 22 Pahalgam assault, which claimed 26 lives.
He framed it as “a blow to India's conscience” and “not solely an assault on India's soul however an open problem to all of the nations that consider in humanity.”
Modi underlined India's proactive function in opposition to terror financing and extremist networks. “India has taken the lead within the combat in opposition to terror outfits like Al-Qaeda and its associates, and we oppose any sort of terror-financing. We've not too long ago seen the brutal Pahalgam terror assault. I thank all of the pleasant nations who stood with us.”
The SCO collectively condemned the bloodbath within the Tianjin Declaration, demanding accountability. “The Member States strongly condemned the terrorist assault in Pahalgam on 22 April 2025. They expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the households of the useless and the wounded. They additional acknowledged that perpetrators, organisers and sponsors of such assaults should be dropped at justice.”
The remarks carried added diplomatic weight, made within the presence of Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the primary time Modi and Sharif shared a stage since hostilities escalated earlier this yr. India has accused Pakistan of sponsoring the assault, presenting what it described as “incontrovertible proof” of Islamabad's function.
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In retaliation, the Indian navy launched Operations Sindoor and Mahadev in opposition to militant infrastructure alongside the Line of Management. Following the bloodbath, India took decisive steps to downgrade ties, together with suspending the Indus Waters Treaty.
Connectivity with belief, not coercion
If safety was the laborious fringe of Modi's message, connectivity was its strategic, softer counterpart. “India firmly believes that sturdy connectivity fosters not simply commerce, however belief and improvement,” he mentioned.
“That's the reason we're advancing initiatives like Chabahar and the Worldwide North-South Transport Hall, which is able to deepen hyperlinks to Afghanistan and Central Asia.”
The comment was a delicate counterpoint to China's Belt and Highway Initiative, notably the China–Pakistan Financial Hall (CPEC), which cuts by means of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Linking Gwadar Port with China's Xinjiang province, CPEC is a flagship BRI challenge, however one India views as coercive.
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Modi's emphasis was totally different: partnership over strain, respect over compulsion. “Connectivity that bypasses sovereignty loses belief and which means,” he warned.
Two initiatives illustrate India's method: Chabahar Port in Iran and the Worldwide North-South Transport Hall (INSTC). Collectively, they kind a commerce artery linking India to Central Asia, Russia and Europe, bypassing Pakistan and decreasing dependence on the Suez Canal.
The INSTC spans 7,200 kilometres throughout sea, rail and street, involving 13 nations. Signed in 2000 by India, Iran and Russia, milestones embody India's first container cargo to Russia in 2014, the japanese department launch by means of Kazakhstan in 2022, and completion of the Rasht–Bandar-e Anzali railway in 2024.
Building of the Rasht–Astara hyperlink, the western hall's closing piece, is scheduled for 2025. Freight is already shifting alongside operational segments, with shipments to Kazakhstan and Russia surging.
But challenges stay. Chabahar operates beneath the shadow of US sanctions, which, regardless of earlier exemptions, create uncertainty and deter personal funding.
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In the meantime, conflicts affecting the Purple Sea and Suez Canal solely heighten the hall's strategic relevance. For India, these initiatives symbolize Twenty first-century commerce diplomacy: sovereignty revered, partnerships significant, belief because the foreign money of affect.
China and Russia in numbers
India's commerce in 2025-26 displays sturdy development, persistent structural challenges and strategic dependencies. Between April and July, exports rose almost 20% to $5.75 billion, whereas imports grew 13% to $40.65 billion.
For the complete 2024-25 fiscal yr, exports stood at $14.25 billion in opposition to imports of $113.5 billion, highlighting the commerce deficit. Over 20 years, this hole has widened, from $1.1 billion in 2003-04 to $99.2 billion in 2024-25.
China stays the biggest contributor in India's complete commerce imbalance of $283 billion, accounting for roughly 35%. The deficit with China alone reached $85.1 billion in 2023-24.
GTRI evaluation reveals India's reliance on Chinese language imports in crucial sectors: 97.7% of erythromycin, 96.8% of silicon wafers, 86% of flat-panel shows, 82.7% of photo voltaic cells, 75.2% of lithium-ion batteries, 80.5% of laptops, 91.4% of embroidery equipment and 98.9% of viscose yarn are Chinese language-sourced.
Ajay Srivastava, GTRI founder, warns that such dominance provides Beijing leverage, turning provide chains into devices of strain throughout political tensions.
India's exports to China have dwindled to simply 11.2% of bilateral commerce, down from 42.3% 20 years in the past. Most imports are uncooked supplies and capital items utilized in home manufacturing and exports, highlighting structural gaps moderately than purely strategic over-reliance.
As for India-Russia commerce, bilateral commerce hit a document $68.7 billion in FY 2024-25, almost six occasions the pre-pandemic degree of $10.1 billion, with India exporting $4.88 billion and importing $63.84 billion.
Indian exports embody agricultural merchandise, chemical compounds, prescription drugs, iron and metal, ceramics, equipment, aeroplane elements, glassware, textiles, leather-based items and electrical gear.
Russian exports comprise oil and petroleum merchandise, fertilisers, equipment, mineral fuels, treasured metals and vegetable oils. Providers commerce stays secure, favouring Russia with $1.021 billion in 2021.
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Each side goal to achieve $100 billion in bilateral commerce by 2030.
Investments have grown steadily. India's investments in Russia stood at $16 billion in October 2023, up from $6.5 billion in 2011, whereas Russian investments in India reached round $20 billion.
Indian capital flows deal with power and prescription drugs; Russian investments goal power, petrochemicals, banking, railways and metal. Leaders goal for USD 50 billion in bilateral funding by 2025.
Nevertheless, trilateral cooperation beneath the RIC (Russia, India, China) framework stays largely aspirational. Political cohesion exists on paper, however significant financial initiatives have but to materialise.
India–China tensions proceed to constrain initiatives, whilst each keep sturdy bilateral ties with Moscow.
Alternative in reform and people-to-people ties
The third pillar of Modi's regional imaginative and prescient, alternative, extends past economics. For India, it encompasses cooperation connecting individuals: startups, youth empowerment, conventional drugs, digital inclusion and cultural heritage.
Modi urged making a Civilisational Dialogue Discussion board beneath SCO to showcase artwork, literature and traditions globally: “Our effort was to take SCO past governments. Join frequent individuals, younger scientists, students and startups as properly.”
He argued that confining the World South's aspirations to outdated frameworks is unjust: “We can not challenge the colorful goals of the brand new technology on an previous black-and-white display screen. The display screen must be modified.”
Home reforms are central to this imaginative and prescient.
“We're continually engaged on wide-ranging reforms. That is opening up new alternatives for improvement within the nation in addition to worldwide cooperation. I invite all of you to affix India's improvement journey.”
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Modi additionally welcomed SCO's evolving method to modern challenges: “4 new facilities are being created to cope with modern challenges like organised crime, drug trafficking and cyber safety. We welcome this reform-oriented mindset.”
He prolonged the imaginative and prescient to international reform: “SCO members can improve mutual cooperation for reforms in international establishments. On the event of the eightieth anniversary of the United Nations, we are able to unanimously name for UN reform.”
The street forward
Modi's three-letter method — S, O, C — is much less a slogan and extra a layered assertion, aimed otherwise at every actor:
To Pakistan: terrorism won't be normalised.
To China: connectivity initiatives can not ignore sovereignty.
To Russia: maintain the INSTC alive regardless of sanctions.
The method alerts India's intent: safety with out compromise, connectivity with respect, and alternative that extends past elites to individuals themselves.
as a Dependable and Trusted Information SupplyWhether or not geopolitics permits these ambitions to take full form stays to be seen. For now, S, O, C stands as an announcement of imaginative and prescient, technique and precept.
