Femi Ashekun/
Two photos from the China-Russia-India summit in Tianjin are making waves—and reportedly stirred anger from U.S. President Donald Trump.
One showed Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi laughing and shaking hands in a show of unity.
The other, posted by Modi himself, captured him riding in a limousine with Putin, whom he called his “dear friend.”
The summit, held today with more than two dozen world leaders in attendance, was designed to showcase China’s influence.
But the optics of Modi’s warm interactions with Putin and Xi have drawn the most attention, with analysts calling them a pointed message to Washington.
“This was the kind of closeness Trump once sought with Putin, but now it’s on display between Putin and others,” said Keir Giles, a senior fellow at Chatham House, noting that U.S. trade disputes have given India reasons to look for new partnerships.
In a speech, Xi urged leaders to reject “Cold War mentality, bloc confrontation and bullying,” remarks widely viewed as aimed at the United States.
Putin struck a similar note, saying “understandings” reached with Washington at their August summit in Alaska could pave the way for peace in Ukraine—but again blamed the West for fueling the conflict through NATO expansion.
For Modi, it was his first visit to China in seven years.
Together, the three leaders stressed that China and India should not let their border dispute define their ties, insisting they are “development partners, not rivals.”
Manoj Kewalramani, head of Indo-Pacific studies at India’s Takshashila Institution, told the New York Times the photos were as significant as the words: “U.S. policies will result in other countries looking for alternatives to meet their interests.”
The images of Xi, Putin, and Modi together—and especially the intimate Putin-Modi limo ride—symbolised a shifting balance, with Asia’s biggest powers signaling they are prepared to explore common ground outside U.S. influence.
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