The West Needs a Better Attitude Toward Global South: EU Leader

The president of Finland has warned the United States and fellow European leaders that the West will lose the battle for global influence if it doesn’t adopt a “more cooperative and dignified foreign policy” towards the Global South and India.

Alexander Stubb made that remark on Wednesday after watching news clips on Sunday and Monday from China, where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and being warmly embraced by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Finnish president, who spoke at a press conference with Lithuanian President Inga Ruginiene, said there had been attempts for a long time to undermine the unity of the ‘Global West’ and if Europe and America did not treat India and poorer nations better, then “we will lose.”

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Stubb suggested the West risked isolation and declining influence if it did not seek more genuine partnerships with nations like India, saying the SCO summit was a good reminder for the West “about what is at stake. We’re trying to preserve the remnants of the old order, and that’s what it’s all about.”

“If Europe and America don’t have a more cooperative foreign policy towards the Global South and India, then we will lose. The SCO meeting in China is a reminder to the West about what is at stake,” declares Finland’s President Alex Stubb pic.twitter.com/aV2pJmMyTw

— Shashank Mattoo (@MattooShashank) September 3, 2025

China’s warm embrace of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a dramatic contrast to the scathing language he received from US President Donald Trump in recent weeks, about ending India’s border war with Pakistan, plus India’s tariffs and its “dead economy.”

The treatment of Modi was similar to Trump’s treatment of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, which was described as an “ambush at the White House“.

Modi, meanwhile, discussed greater economic ties and closer security dealings on his trip to Beijing, while beaming at TV cameras, as if to show the White House there could very easily be a major shift in global dynamics that reshape the world order, if he and his people are not treated better.

Many leaders from Central and South Asia attended the summit in Shanghai.

The event ended with 10 member nations adopting the Tianjin Declaration, which seeks to address security, economic and social challenges and promote regional cooperation and a multipolar world order based on principles of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity, and pursuit of common development.