It wasn't necessary for Bishkek to put on much of a show. A small conference hall in the Kyrgyz capital, a blue and gold background, and three men who have been dodging and crouching around one another for the past decade, with a curious mix of suspicion and convenience: Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin standing together for the twenty sixth meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. The graphic will move quicker than any statement issued by the bloc this week, and that's the idea. Optics are not a matter of chance in diplomacy, and this one has been 11 months in the making since the three party's last concert joint on the stage, at Tianjin, 11 months ago.

This assembly is not like the typical parade of regional summits, because it is taking place during an economic climate. This year, India and China have both had to change their calculations after Washington's tariff regime. For long months, New Delhi had to take a beating of 50 percent duties on its exports to the U.S. before the rate was reduced to 18 percent in February, a compromise reached after a long and at times contentious period of negotiations. Meanwhile, Beijing is not affected by any of America's tariffs, despite trying to reach an uneasy trade truce with Washington.

If there was anything that has brought India and China closer this year rather than any preplanned deal, it's been the leaning toward each other from the same trading partner. The thaw has advanced since the deadly clashes of 2020, as shown by the boundary talks between senior officials in Beijing, which took place a few days before Bishkek.

This should not be interpreted as India's move to replace its Western alliances with anti-American alliances. The headline is alluring, but it's misreading what's going on. India has been playing the game with a level of discipline that has been unusual for the last two years: It has been building up arms and tech with Washington, tapping Moscow and, now, carefully and gingerly, reestablishing working level trust with Beijing. The Bishkek photo will be interpreted by some as proof of a China-Russia-India "axis of the East" against the "West". It is not that. It's a step closer to three big economies realizing that operating in a non-Western diplomatic space makes sense, without giving up the flexibility of dealing with Washington on terms that work best for them.

The figures in back of the summit speak for themselves that no one in the room can afford to write it off as theatre. On paper, the ten full members of the SCO, which include almost all the world's Muslims, make up nearly 42 per cent of global population and, by purchasing power parity (PPP), nearly 36 per cent of the $80 trillion world economy even though their unity is far less than that of Brussels. The fact that the grouping has a significant proportion of the oil reserves and natural gas of the planet, with Iran added to the list and the presence of Russia and the central Asian republics, makes the SCO seem more of an organization than just a talking club that Western capitals can ignore, despite their expressed disinterest.

This year, however, Iran's influence plays its part. The arrival of Masoud Pezeshkian to Bishkek coincides with the imposition of new U.S. secondary sanctions against Tehran in the field of gold, technology, digital-asset and aviation sectors, among others, amid Washington's efforts to strangle Tehran's remaining trade routes. China, one of Iran's top crude buyers, has signalled that it will defy that pressure, and will be put to the test not just declared when the leaders meet. India's meager walk on that particular fence is more complex: New Delhi's interests lie in West Asia, and it dare not be seen backing Tehran's violation of sanctions while cherishing Iran's role in Chabahar-led connectivity in the region.

Another dimension to consider is the calendar. This is not a one shot. This week Xi's travels will take him from Bishkek to Egypt, his first visit to the country in 10 years, and then on to New Delhi in mid-September for the BRICS summit (which is not yet officially confirmed in India, but Beijing has repeated its invitation). Putin, meanwhile, will be expected to have separate bilateral meetings with both Xi and Pezeshkian on the sidelines, adding yet another round of behind-the-scenes discussions to the on-camera dance. Kyrgyzstan will pass on the rotating SCO chairmanship to Pakistan when the two-day meeting ends, which will be stewarded over until 2027 and will host the next round of leaders' summits complications that are present given the current tension between Islamabad and New Delhi, despite the fact both cities sit in the same bloc.

The story behind the Bishkek photograph is more about the post-photograph signatures than it is about the photograph. In addition to the larger Bishkek Declaration, which will be discussed by heads of state on Tuesday, a proposal by a development bank and new mechanisms to finance connectivity are under consideration. The summit will have accomplished more than simply pose for photos if it results in real commitments to funding, not more bullshit talk. Otherwise, the image of the three leaders standing side by side will be what it has always been on such occasions: a photograph of convenience, not conviction, which countries need to take just enough to smile and not quite enough to commit to.