When Vladimir Putin welcomes leaders from a dozen countries for two separate summits in Ufa tomorrow, there will be echoes of the 19th-century Great Game.
In the west, attention is set to focus on the summit of the Brics group of emerging economies. But for the Russian president, much more will be at stake at the less well known gathering of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation.
Formed a decade ago by China, Russia and four central Asian states, the SCO’s original focus was to settle border disputes between members. But, as Mr Putin finds himself isolated in the west over his role in the Ukraine crisis, he
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