Van Jones called the meeting of the three leaders a “historically big deal”, adding that the image should “send a chill down the spine of every American”. When world leaders gathered in China’s Tianjin for the SCO summit, it was a clear message of defiance to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. What especially caught attention was the powerful display of bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, China President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The three of the world’s most powerful leaders sharing the stage, without Washington in frame, drew world’s gaze, including that of the West. The Modi-Xi-Putin trio – walking together, engaging in pointed exchanges and carpooling – has not gone unnoticed in the US media, with American political commentator Van Jones calling it a “sign of a new world order,” which is “not good for the US”. Referring to the meeting of the three world leader, Jones called it a “historically big deal”, adding that the image of Xi Jinping with Putin and Modi should “send a chill down the spine of every American”.
“We’re going to look back on today historically as a very big deal. Because that image of Xi Jinping with Putin, with Modi from India, with the leader of Iran, with the leader of North Korea, that should send a chill down the spine of every American,” he said.
The SCO gathering in Tianjin came at a crucial juncture as US President Donald Trump-led administration continued to double down on tariffs. Days after the US tariffs came into effect, three of the world’s most powerful leaders shared the spotlight, without Washington in frame, in a big diplomatic statement by the countries.
The US political analyst suggested that the US “is in a box”, where the country is left on the bad side of a triangle. “That is a new world order. They call it a multipolar world. I call it the West is now in a box… Everyone doesn’t like Henry Kissinger. But he did figure out a way to get us on the right side of the triangle. So, it was US and China together and Russia by itself,” Jones said.
“Now we are on the bad in the triangle. It’s everybody against us. That’s not good for America, that’s not good for us,” he added. Pointing to a combined photo of Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the American commentator called it “a feather in Putin’s cap”.
“It is a dagger point at the heart of the West,” he added, referring to the photo, which many observers have called a dramatic redrawing of the global balance of power.
Xi, Putin and the North Korean leader led a group of more than 20 world leaders in Tiananmen Square during China’s “victory day” parade on Wednesday.
