New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to China later this week for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin.
The visit, scheduled for August 31 to September 1, will mark Modi’s first trip to China in over seven years.
The summit comes at a time when India and China are attempting to further ease tensions that erupted after the deadly border clashes in 2020. The two leaders were last seen together at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, last year.
Outlining India’s focus at the SCO, senior foreign ministry official Tanmaya Lal said New Delhi’s priorities include trade, connectivity, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to Reuters.
The improving ties between New Delhi and Beijing after years of border friction, coupled with renewed tariff challenges from the Trump administration, have heightened expectations for a constructive meeting between Modi and Xi on the sidelines of the gathering.
The SCO summit, beginning Sunday, will bring together more than 20 world leaders. Alongside Xi and Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders from Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia are set to attend.
A Chinese foreign ministry official said this year’s SCO summit would be the largest since the bloc’s creation in 2001, describing it as “an important force in building a new type of international relations.”
Initially formed as a six-member Eurasian security grouping, the SCO has since expanded to 10 permanent members, with 16 dialogue partners and observer states. Its agenda has also widened from security and counter-terrorism to include economic and military cooperation.