SCO summit showcases solidarity as global order evolves

Aside from Xi Jinping's new financial and development cooperation commitments, it's tempting to call this year's Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Tianjin Summit a bit of a nothing-dumpling.

The joint declaration, published Tuesday, largely rehashed the priorities from recent SCO summits, including:

• Building a more representative multipolar world order
• Establishing a regional security architecture that can resist outside interference
• Doubling down on multilateralism and development cooperation

But amid all the usual formalities and boilerplate platitudes, one thing stood out: SCO members' shows of relative solidarity at a time when confidence in Western-led alliances is wavering.

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif set aside differences to accept compromise language on the incident that sparked a four-day border conflict in May.
• The declaration condemned "unilateral coercive measures" that violate WTO rules – a thinly veiled jab at US and EU trade protectionism – arguing these undermine economic fairness and threaten food and energy security.
• Images of Russia's Putin clasping hands with Modi and Xi sent a clear message to the Trump administration that its efforts to cut off Russian oil exports have backfired.

Get smart: It’s not just India and Pakistan – many SCO members carry long-standing conflicts and grievances with one another, making durable unity among the bloc elusive.

• Still, the growing promise of Global South cooperation – creating alternatives to Western financial systems and security architecture – is making an increasingly compelling case for members to put aside their differences.