From India to Russia: The economic and military might of SCO nations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting. Modi today (August 31) held a bilateral with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two men previously met in Russia’s Kazan in October 2024.

The SCO is a Eurasian security and political group. Its members comprise 80 per cent of the world’s land mass, 40 per cent of the world’s population and a large chunk of the world’s energy reserves. But what do we know about the economic and military might of SCO nations?

Let’s take a closer look.

A brief look at SCO

Originally formed in 1996, the SCO was known as the ‘Shanghai Five’. China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan comprised its original members.

The grouping was created in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The idea was to solve lingering border disputes and focus on troop reductions and confidence-building measures.

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In June 2001, the grouping, at a meeting in Shanghai, renamed itself the SCO . At this time, it expanded to include Uzbekistan. The SCO also shifted its focus to counter-terrorism efforts as well as economic cooperation. The grouping said it would work toward creating “a new democratic, fair and rational international political and economic order.”

The SCO slowly expanded over the next decades. India and Pakistan joined the bloc in 2017, Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024. Today, it includes over a dozen dialogue partners, among them Sri Lanka, Turkey, Cambodia, Azerbaijan, Nepal, Armenia, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Myanmar, the Maldives, and the United Arab Emirates.

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The SCO champions what it calls a multipolar world. This is in stark opposition to the West’s ‘rules-based order’ – established in the aftermath of World War II – with institutions such as the United Nations.

Now let’s take a look at the economic and military might of the SCO member nations.

India

India in 2025 crossed the $4 trillion mark in GDP – overtaking Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy, with only the United States, China and Germany ahead of it. Nearly half of its GDP comes from services, around a third from manufacturing, and a little over 10 per cent from agriculture.

Experts say India is poised to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2028. Despite Trump’s tariffs, it remains one of the fastest-growing major economies. India’s GDP grew 7.8 per cent in the latest quarter, government data showed on Friday. This was well above the 6.7 per cent some economists had predicted. However, the threat of Trump’s tariffs looms large on businesses.

India has the world’s second-largest military with around 1.46 million active troops, an additional 1.15 million in reserves and 2.5 million paramilitary personnel. The Global Firepower Index 2025 ranks India fourth – behind the United States, Russia and China. India has earmarked Rs 6.81 lakh crore ($79–81 billion) for its 2025–2026 defence budget. This is a 9.5 per cent increase from the previous year. Most of India’s hardware comes from Russia.

China

With an estimated GDP of $19 trillion, China has the world’s second-largest economy – after the United States’ $30 trillion. China is one of the world’s biggest manufacturers. Like India, its GDP is driven by services (56 per cent) and manufacturing (36 per cent), with agriculture contributing just six per cent.

However, there are warning signs for Beijing. In August, China’s manufacturing activity shrank for a fifth straight month. China is facing a slowdown in domestic demand, local governments are facing a cash crunch, and unemployment is rising. Companies like real estate giant Evergrande have collapsed. All this comes as Trump’s tariffs ratchet up the pressure on Beijing. China has set itself an ambitious growth target of “around 5 per cent” in 2025.

China, with around two million active duty soldiers, has the world’s largest military. It also has another 510,000 soldiers in reserve and 625,000 in paramilitary forces.

China announced a budget of $249 billion for 2025 – an increase of over seven per cent from the previous year. Analysts, however, claim that the real figures could be three or four times higher, though this remains a matter of heated debate. The Global Firepower Index 2025 ranks China third, only behind its great geopolitical rival the United States and Russia.

Russia

Russia is the world’s largest country by land mass. However, its GDP, ranked 11th in the world at $2.2 trillion, is far smaller in scale. While late US Senator John McCain once called Russia a ‘gas station’ masquerading as a country, that is more than a little harsh. Services comprise nearly 70 per cent of Russia’s GDP, industry around 25 per cent, and agriculture about 5 per cent.

Russia’s economy has been hit with multiple Western sanctions since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Experts long predicted a downturn, but in 2023 and 2024, Russia’s economy grew 4.1 per cent and 4.3 per cent respectively – faster than G7 nations. Moscow has remained defiant.

However, the economy slowed dramatically in 2025, with GDP growing just 1.1 per cent in Q2 compared with 4 per cent in the same period last year. Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov warned in June that Russia was on the brink of slipping into recession unless monetary policy changed.

Russia, which is still fighting the Ukraine war, has around 1.32 million active troops, tied with North Korea for fourth place globally after China, India and the United States. Russia also has two million reservists and around 250,000 paramilitary personnel.
Russia has been increasing its defence spending since 2022.

For 2025, it allocated $126 billion – about 6.5 per cent of its GDP, the highest level since the Cold War. Defence spending now comprises nearly a third of its federal budget. The Global Firepower Index 2025 ranks Russia’s military second – ahead of China but behind the United States. Despite Putin hinting at cutting defence spending in 2026, Western analysts remain sceptical.

Pakistan

Though both India and Pakistan gained independence at the same time, New Delhi has left Islamabad far behind economically. India’s GDP is more than 10 times the size of Pakistan’s, which stands at about $410.9 billion.

Pakistan’s economy has been floundering in recent years. Incomes and purchasing power have dwindled, inflation has soared, power cuts are frequent, and fiscal mismanagement continues. Islamabad received yet another bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier this year.

That has not stopped it from spending heavily on defence. Pakistan has allocated around Rs 2.28 trillion ($7.6–10 billion) for defence in 2024–2025 – an increase of Rs 159 billion from the previous year. Pakistan has the world’s 7th largest military with around 660,000 active-duty personnel, another 550,000 reservists and 290,000 paramilitary troops. The Global Firepower Index 2025 ranks Pakistan at 12th, down from 9th previously. Most of its weapons come from China.

Iran

Iran, with a GDP of around $410 billion, is a major oil producer. Tehran has faced renewed sanctions under the Trump administration and is under severe economic pressure. The country is dealing with high inflation, currency devaluation, deteriorating infrastructure and worsening climate change.

Iran has 610,000 active military personnel and around 350,000 reserves. It spends about 2.5 per cent of its GDP on defence – most of it on its nuclear missile program.

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, one of the original members of the SCO, has a GDP of $261.4 billion. Its economy grew 4.8 per cent in 2024. Inflation remained relatively high at eight per cent last year. In 2024, Kazakhstan had 39,000 active military personnel and 31,500 paramilitary personnel.

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked nation in Central Asia. With a GDP of $17.5 billion, it is classified as a lower-middle-income country. In 2024, it had 10,900 active military personnel and 9,500 paramilitary personnel.

Tajikistan

Tajikistan is another landlocked and mountainous nation in Central Asia. The heavily agricultural and impoverished country, with a history of Islamist violence, sends hundreds of thousands of workers to neighbouring Russia every year. Its real GDP growth reached 8.4 per cent in 2024 and 8.2 per cent in Q1 2025, according to the World Bank. Remittances from workers abroad make up over a third of its GDP.

Tajikistan has just 9,500 active duty personnel and around 20,000 paramilitary forces. However, it maintains about 600,000 in reserve.

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, which borders Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, has a GDP of $114.9 billion. In 2024, its GDP grew by 6.5 per cent. However, inflation remained high at above 9.5 per cent. Uzbekistan had around 48,000 active military personnel and 20,000 paramilitary personnel.

Belarus

Belarus, the latest entrant to the SCO, joined in 2024. Its GDP stood at $75.9 billion as of 2024, with 4 per cent growth that year.
Its president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, is a close ally of Putin.

In 2024, Belarus had 45,350 active military personnel, 289,500 reservists, and 110,000 paramilitary personnel.