He argued that the proposed SCO Development Bank should be insulated from mechanisms employed by some countries to secure unilateral advantages in global affairs.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on SCO members to establish a development bank that operates independently of financial systems he says are used to exert economic and political pressure.
Reiterating his vision of the SCO’s three pillars, Security, Connectivity and Opportunity, PM Modi stressed the need to move beyond intent and deliver concrete results. In 2001, the SCO accounted for 10.6% of the global economy in PPP terms, compared with 47.2% for the G7. The SCO’s share surpassed that of the G7 in 2021 and is estimated at 34.3% in 2026, against 28% for the G7, according to the IMF April 2026 estimates. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the 26th SCO Summit that the organisation had laid a strong foundation for cooperation over the past 25 years and should now focus on translating that cooperation into tangible outcomes over the next 25 years.
Since then, the gap has narrowed sharply.
