India in SCO: India’s Diplomatic Balancing in a Constrained Multilateral Order

Given the continuing expansion of India’s multilateral experiments and engagements, now is an opportune time to ponder over how India reconciles its cosmopolitan moral principles with strategic pragmatism in multilateral forums often dominated by other great powers. To appreciate the above issue, this commentary focuses on India’s CT (counter-terrorism) diplomacy and strategy against the 25^th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit at Tianjin in China from August 31 to September 1, 2025.