SCO Summit – U.S. Terribly Upset Over Car Rides, Hand-Holding & Jokes Sharing Between Xi, Putin And Modi
September 2nd, 2025 by financetwitter
As Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were seen chatting and laughing at the second day of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, many wonders exactly what jokes the three powerful world leaders were sharing.
The joke on social media was that Modi proudly shared how he ignored four calls from Donald Trump after the U.S. president escalated U.S.-India trade tensions with a 50% tariff on Indian goods over purchase of Russian crude oil. Modi also turned down an invitation to the White House, where Trump planned to parade Modi alongside Pakistani Army chief General Asim Munir to showcase the U.S. president as a peacemaker.
Modi was lucky because according to Putin, the U.S. leader had been spamming his phone to confirm his attendance to the Alaska summit. But both Indian and Russian leaders were no match for the Chinese president, as Xi shared how his phone had been ringing off the hook for weeks with calls from the White House requesting Xi to call Trump after Beijing retaliated with 125% tariff. And three of them burst into laughter.
While Trump finally got through to Xi after weeks of frustration, and managed to get Putin shared a ride in his presidential car nicknamed “The Beast”, eyebrows were raised when Modi shared a ride with Putin in a made-in-Russia Aurus sedan to the Ritz-Carlton in Tianjin for the SCO summit. President Putin reportedly waited nearly 10 minutes for PM Modi to join him before they left together.
The unusual carpooling was just the appetizer, The two leaders continued their discussions during the ride and then for an additional 50 minutes inside the car after arriving at the hotel. Their formal bilateral meeting followed, lasting about an hour and covering energy, defence, and global issues. It was a powerful message to the U.S. about the real meaning of friendship.
The close relationship that Trump sought with Putin was so fake and nowhere compared to the hugs and laughs shared between Putin and Modi. Trump’s favourite bragging about his personal relationship with Xi was torpedoed after the Chinese president slammed the “bullying behaviour” of certain countries, obviously referring to the U.S., as he gathered Eurasian leaders on Monday.
The imagery of the leaders of China, Russia and India embracing each other like old friends – holding hands, exchanging smiles, sharing warm moments – was something that the White House could only watch with envy. Regardless of whether they were carefully orchestrated or otherwise, it shows that the West can only bully and threaten Beijing, Moscow and New Delhi to a certain extent.
In fact, Trump’s half-baked trade war to contain China has backfired spectacularly. Trump’s gentle treatment of Vladimir Putin, a cheap tactic to break Russia’s bond with China, has done nothing to pull Russia away from China’s orbit. The U.S. president’s rough treatment of Narendra Modi, on the other hand, is pushing India closer to Russia and warming up its relations with China instead.
Thanks to Washington, Modi travelled to China for the first time in seven years after Trump’s abrupt move to impose 50% tariffs on India, supposedly America’s ally to prevent a Chinese domination of Asia. Adding fuel to the fire, Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, caused more anger by using caste terminology when he said that Indian “Brahmins are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people” with the Russia oil trade.
Make no mistake, the distrust between China and India still remains due largely to the border dispute between the world’s two most populous nations. No one expects New Delhi to pull away from Washington. However, the meeting in Tianjin represented a reset between China and India. As Trump bullies India, which is the world’s largest democracy, Modi cannot afford to ignore public opinion.
India’s strategic calculation is straightforward. It has red lines – agriculture will not be opened up to U.S. demands, oil purchases cannot be determined by Washington, the ceasefire with Pakistan was conceded by Islamabad, not brokered by Trump. From Modi’s political perspective, he cannot look weak and the U.S. cannot take India’s partnership for granted, else India will seek friends elsewhere.
Beijing refused to “kowtow” to Trump’s bullying, whilst New Delhi will not be “cowed” by Trump’s tariff and Moscow scammed Trump about a peace deal with Ukraine. In the display of solidarity, Xi, Modi and Putin show that they can become great trading partners even without the United States. Crucially, Russia demonstrates that it is not isolated despite the Western sanctions.
China and India have helped prop up Russia’s economy after its invasion of Ukraine left it cut off from most Western trade. Last year, China purchased a record of more than 100 million tonnes of Russian crude oil, which accounted for almost 20% of its total energy imports. Likewise, oil exports to India, which made up only a small fraction of its imports before the Ukraine war, has since grown to some US$140 billion since 2022.
Together, China and India make up the majority of Russia’s energy exports. Russia relies on oil and gas exports for roughly a quarter of its budget revenues, which is funding its war chest. It wouldn’t be surprising if Moscow offers further discounts in order to secure more trade with India and China, especially for India to ensure it does not back away due to pressure from the U.S.
In his remarks at the talks with Mr Modi, Mr Xi said that the world’s two most populous nations should be friends, enable each other’s success, and choose “the cooperative pas de deux of the Dragon and the Elephant.” The Indian leader highlighted “the positive momentum” in bilateral ties, and New Delhi has described the relationship with Beijing as “partners rather than rivals.”
In defiance, Modi affirmed ties with Moscow, telling buddy Putin – “Even in the most difficult situations, India and Russia have always walked shoulder to shoulder. Our close cooperation is important not only for the people of both countries but also for global peace, stability and prosperity”. New Delhi officials have also said it will buy energy from where it gets “the best deal“.
Russia might not offer the same discounts to China, but Beijing’s main goal at the SCO summit is to show it can be a strong alternative to the U.S. The Middle Kingdom has long desired to promote a “multi-polar” world order, and is happily flexing its muscle as Xi Jinping hosted more than 20 leaders and the heads of 10 international organisations, including United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Western media try to play down the SCO as a bloc full of contradictions, unlike NATO. But the SCO, which began in 1996 as a security bloc known as the “Shanghai Five”, also saw the attendance of Turkish President Erdogan, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic – suggesting that not all NATO members or European leaders were fully aligned with the West.
Upset, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed the power display at the SCO as superficial. Trump’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, has described the show of unity between Modi, Putin, and Xi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin as “troublesome”, even insults India that it was “a shame to see Modi getting in bed with the two biggest authoritarians in the world”.
But in geopolitics, appearances are important. Besides, NATO is seen as weak, unable to push back Russia in the Ukraine War. To see Mr. Modi, Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin smiling and joking is like watching Washington’s influence fade. Mr Trump has given Mr Xi a stage on which to pose as the host of an important multipolar gathering, where China is leading the New World Order.
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Perhaps the 3 leaders were laughing at the description of Clown's teeny weeny wee willie??? 😂😂😂
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