Russia and China measure their influence in Central Asia
The presidents of Russia and China, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, have landed in Kazakhstan to participate in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), an alliance seen as a counterweight to the United States and its allies.
The Beijing-led regional bloc aims to promote common approaches to joint security threats such as drug trafficking and terrorism, counter any domestic instability and strengthen economic partnerships.
At the two-day summit, SCO leaders are expected to discuss the current state of the SCO and prospects for further "deepening multifaceted cooperation within the organisation and improving its activities", the Kremlin said in a statement.
At the end of the meeting, the Astana declaration and other joint documents will be signed. At last year's virtual summit, the SCO issued a final statement highlighting the negative impact of "unilateral and unrestricted expansion of global missile defence systems by certain countries or groups of countries", without directly referring to NATO expansion and Western military assistance to Ukraine.
The organisation, created in 2001, is made up of China, Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Belarus, which has had observer status since 2015, will attend the summit for the first time as a full member of the alliance.
Other countries involved in negotiations with the group include Turkey, Bahrain, Cambodia, Egypt, Kuwait, Myanmar, Nepal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also scheduled to travel to Astana to participate in the summit.
The SCO, a pillar of the "new world order"
The SCO, as well as the BRICS, are a key element for Russia and China in their strategy to change the current world order and counter the "hegemony" of the United States on the global stage. In this sense, Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin's advisor, stressed that these two alliances "are the main pillars of the new world order, a locomotive in the context of the establishment of total multilateralism in world affairs".
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the SCO summit would "help build more consensus among all parties and make contributions to the promotion of security, stability and development of member countries", while also advancing "lasting peace and common prosperity in the world".
Both Moscow and Beijing have repeatedly stressed the need to promote a new, "fairer" world order based on multipolarity. For the US and its international allies, however, the idea of a 'multipolar' world put forward by China and Russia will be based on Moscow's and Beijing's own rules, which would allow them to impose themselves on Taiwan and Ukraine.
The Kremlin has already announced that Putin will meet with several regional leaders on the sidelines of the summit, including Chinese President Xi Jinging, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, and the presidents of Azerbaijan, Mongolia and Pakistan before an informal dinner hosted by Kazakh President Kassym Khomart Tokayev.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not participate in the summit and will instead send his foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, to Kazakhstan. In contrast, Modi will travel to Moscow later this month.
Rivalries in Central Asia
In addition to countering Western alliances, Xi and Putin see the SCO as a key tool for developing their strategic interests across the region.
China and Russia announced a bilateral partnership 'without limits' in February 2022 during Putin's visit to Beijing, shortly before Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine. Since then, the two powers have deepened cooperation in a number of areas.
Despite this strong strategic alliance, however, Russia and China remain historic rivals for influence in Central Asia.
All five countries in the region - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - are former Soviet republics and thus have historical cultural, linguistic and economic ties with Russia.
However, China's growing economic and commercial development and its numerous investments in the region have challenged Russia's traditional influence. For the Asian giant, the region is central to its international infrastructure development project, the Belt and Road Initiative. Central Asia is also rich in natural resources and key to the overland transport of goods between China and Europe.
