A war of many centuries was won without a single shot fired. Without killing an innocent person or mutilating a child. While other conflicts destroy lives and cities, diplomacy has triumphed. The consolidation of a new multipolar world order happened through the power of words, not weapons.
The combined military might of the three Asian giants also made a difference. Russia, China, and India — three nuclear powers — quietly demonstrated their strength. Washington and its European allies bet on a strategy of isolation. They tried to intimidate and pressure. But the world witnessed a moment that completely dismantled that attempt. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warmly embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.
The image is a source of great embarrassment for American foreign policy. In the preceding weeks, Peter Navarro, one of Trump’s main advisors, had violently attacked India. He called the country the “Kremlin’s laundry.” He even went to the absurd length of using casteist language, declaring that “Brahmins would be profiting at the expense of the Indian people.”
Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary, accused New Delhi of “profiting” from Russian oil. Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs as “punishment” on India. Navarro even called the conflict in Ukraine “Modi’s war.” But Modi not only maintained his relationship with Moscow, he made a point of publishing the photos of the meeting on his own social media. The message couldn’t be clearer: the era of American bullying has come to an end.
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India-Russia relations are at their best possible point. While Washington was trying to isolate Putin, the Russian leader was surrounded by dozens of heads of state. He also met with Turkish President Erdogan, a member of NATO, on the sidelines of the SCO summit.
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The member countries decided to create the SCO Development Bank. They established a universal center to combat security threats. The organization has grown to become the largest in the world, with 26 participating countries and a combined economic output of nearly $30 trillion.
The strengthening of the South-South axis extends beyond the SCO. The phone call between Chinese minister Wang Yi and Brazil’s Mauro Vieira, days before the summit, demonstrated coordination among emerging powers. Brazil and China agreed to resist unilateralism and defend the rights of developing countries. The China-Brazil relationship is at its historical best.
The American strategy of pressure and intimidation has failed. Punitive tariffs, verbal attacks, and attempts at economic blackmail have produced the opposite effect. They have brought the countries Washington was trying to separate even closer together. Asian diplomacy has prevailed over Western bullying.
Tianjin marks the end of an era. The Western hegemony, built over centuries, met its end in a Chinese city. The multipolar world has ceased to be a promise and has become a reality.
