Unmistakable shift: On SCO Summit and Indian foreign policy  India signalled a change in foreign policy stance at the SCO Summit  September 3, 2025 More than the outcomes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to visit China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit was a clear message from the government on a shift in its foreign policy outlook. It has been seven years since Mr. Modi had travelled to China, and his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping was their first such bilateral engagement since the military standoff of 2020. It has been three years since Mr. Modi attended the SCO summit, a Eurasian grouping seen as decidedly anti-western. Meanwhile, photographs of the bonhomie between Mr. Modi, Mr. Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin evoked memories of an inactive Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral. The bilateral meeting with China saw the two leaders give their approval to the normalisation process initiated in October 2024, leading from troop disengagement along the LAC. The two sides agreed to fast-track the boundary resolution process being discussed by their Special Representatives. They also gave the green light for the resumption of direct flights, visa facilitation, and the building of economic ties to “stabilize world trade”. As Mr. Modi committed to “taking forward ties ...based on mutual trust, respect and sensitivity”, Mr. Xi called for the “Dragon (China) and the Elephant (India) to come together”. Such bonhomie was unthinkable even a year ago, and it is clear that it has been driven, in some measure, by the U.S. moves to impose tariffs and sanctions on India, and New Delhi’s sense of mistrust about the Trump administration’s intentions. This allowed Mr. Modi and his delegation, for the moment, to side-step some of the concerns India has had over China’s actions, including its support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, the blocking of Indian moves on UNSC reforms and NSG membership, and holds on designating Pakistan-based terrorists. It was significant that the Tianjin declaration included strong language against the “cross-border movement of terrorists”, albeit condemning the Pahalgam attack and attacks in Balochistan against Pakistani forces, in equal measure. The declaration also saw the entire SCO membership find common ground on contentious issues such as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and condemnation of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, although India maintained its opposition to the paragraph supporting China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Mr. Xi’s plans for an SCO Development Bank, and Mr. Modi’s suggestion of initiating a “Civilisational Dialogue” between SCO members found mention. While the outcomes and the optics made for what Mr. Modi described as a “productive” visit to China, his itinerary missed some opportunities for closer engagement with leaders from India’s neighbourhood and the Global South, as he skipped the “SCO Plus” Summit. Buried in rubble: On the Afghanistan earthquake  Earthquakes need not be deadly if building codes are followed strictly  September 3, 2025 Afghanistan reeled on Monday (September 1, 2025) in the wake of a strong earthquake and multiple after-shocks, killing over 1,400 people, and injuring at least 3,100. According to the United States Geological Survey, the primary tremor was an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 and had struck near Jalalabad, Nangarhar province. After the first tremor, of magnitude 6.3, at a depth of eight kilometres, another earthquake, of magnitude 4.7, struck around 140 km from the epicentre of the initial tremor. The impact of the disaster is playing out in the Kunar and Nangarhar provinces where rescue efforts are on to find and extricate survivors and locate bodies that are buried under piles of rubble. What makes the salvage operations particularly challenging are the limited resources available to authorities given that the ruling Taliban regime faces multiple sanctions. This has been particularly stark following the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan in 2021. The United Nations and international humanitarian agencies have voiced their condolences and expressed support to aid the wounded and assist with relief operations. Afghanistan, which abuts the Hindu Kush mountains, and is at the junction of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, lives under the constant threat of an earthquake. Since 1900, there have reportedly been 12 earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 7 in north-east Afghanistan. In October 2023, the western Herat province was devastated by an earthquake of magnitude 6.3, and several aftershocks, which killed more than 1,500 people and damaged or destroyed more than 63,000 homes. Given the vulnerability of the region, it also bears out that earthquakes of this magnitude and epicentre-depth cause much less damage to lives and property in several parts of the world. Delhi, in February 2025, reported a quake of magnitude 4, at a relatively shallow — and, therefore, potentially more devastating — depth of five kilometres below the surface. True, a quake of magnitude 6 is roughly 100 times more powerful than a one of magnitude 4 assuming similar depths of origin, but there was no physical damage at all reported anywhere in Delhi. At the other end, Chile is regularly besieged by quakes greater than a magnitude of 6, with all accounts suggesting minimal infrastructural damage and no attributable casualties. This is due to the country’s focused commitment to enforcing building codes. Earthquakes need not be a death sentence and Afghanistan must take decisive steps to strengthen its building codes and work to spread awareness on their enforcement. #⚠️ସେପ୍ଟେମ୍ବର 3 ଗୁରୁତ୍ୱପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ଅପଡେଟ 📲