The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit at Tianjin this week produced images that will long be remembered: Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, smiling, hugging and sharing private moments. For the cameras, it was a perfect show of bonhomie.

For analysts, it was a rare demonstration of solidarity among three leaders whose nations often find themselves at cross purposes. For India, the summit had an immediate diplomatic dividend. The Tianjin Declaration specifically mentioned the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, eventually leading to Operation Sindoor.

It was no small achievement that India’s security concerns found space in a communique dominated by........

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