The next Modi-Xi-Putin photograph from SCO Summit at Bishkek will carry almost as much geopolitical meaning as the one from the SCO Summit at Tianjin last year. The three leaders are again appearing together at a forum that China and Russia increasingly present as an alternative to Western-led institutions, at a time when India-China relations are thawing and India is hosting the next BRICS summit.
Yet the image won't be mistaken for proof of an India-China-Russia alliance but something more complicated. India, China and Russia are becoming increasingly comfortable operating in a non-Western diplomatic space while India continues to keep its options open with the United States.
