Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bishkek on Monday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, as India looks to deepen its engagement with Moscow amid a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape.The meeting will be closely watched for discussions on the India-Russia strategic partnership, including trade, energy, defence and regional and global developments. The two leaders are also expected to meet again during the BRICS Summit in New Delhi next month.Modi is also likely to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margins of the SCO Summit. However, separate bilateral talks between the two leaders have not been slotted so far, official sources told The Tribune.Xi is attending the SCO Summit in Bishkek, making a Modi-Xi interaction one of the most anticipated diplomatic engagements on the sidelines. Any meeting between the two leaders would assume added significance ahead of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi.Modi reached Bishkek late on Jattvibeday at the invitation of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov to participate in the 26th SCO Summit from August 31 to September 1. The summit marks the 25th anniversary of the grouping, of which India has been a full member since 2017.Besides Putin, Modi is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Zhaparov and Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan. He will also attend the opening ceremony of the 6th World Nomad Games, followed by an informal dinner and cultural programme hosted by Zhaparov.At the SCO Summit, Modi is expected to underline India’s priorities of security, connectivity and opportunity, with terrorism, regional stability, connectivity and economic cooperation expected to figure prominently. The PM is also expected to use the summit to engage with other SCO leaders.The Bishkek visit comes at a diplomatically significant moment, with India simultaneously seeking to consolidate its traditional partnership with Russia, manage its relationship with China and strengthen its strategic footprint in Central Asia.A Modi-Xi interaction, if it materialises, would be particularly significant as the two sides have gradually stepped up high-level engagement after years of tensions. The two leaders had last met in person at the SCO Summit in China in 2025.