Jaishankar to visit China today for SCO meeting

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is scheduled to arrive in China’s Beijing on Sunday evening, his first trip to the neighbouring country in five years.

While Jaishankar has met his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of multilateral events, this would be his first trip to China since bilateral relations were severely strained following the violent Galwan Valley face-off between the soldiers of the two countries at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in June 2020.

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The visit marks the fact that the two countries are trying to ease tensions and improve ties that plummeted following the deadly clashes at the LAC five years ago.

The incident had sharply escalated tensions and brought bilateral ties to a historic low.

The External Affairs Minister, who is on a two-nation tour — Singapore and China — will arrive in Beijing after wrapping up the Singapore leg of his visit.

Jaishankar is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Monday to discuss issues concerning India and China.

The two leaders last met in February on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Johannesburg, where both sides echoed calls for mutual trust and support.

According to official sources, Jaishankar will also attend a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (CFM) in Tianjin on July 15.

“EAM will visit the People’s Republic of China to participate in the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (CFM) being held in Tianjin. EAM will also hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the CFM,” an official communique issued here said.

Jaishankar’s visit follows visits by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who had travelled to China in June for the SCO meetings.

Wang Yi is also expected to visit India next month to meet NSA Ajit Doval — part of a planned round of dialogue under the Special Representatives (SR) mechanism aimed at resolving the decades-old boundary dispute.

Even as diplomatic talks continue, China’s recent trade actions have raised eyebrows in New Delhi. In recent weeks, China has either delayed or stopped key exports to India, including rare earth magnets, fertilisers, and tunnel boring machines meant for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project.

Adding fuel to the fire, China’s covert and overt support to Pakistan, particularly during the clashes in May this year, remains a sticking point.

These thorny issues threaten to overshadow any constructive dialogue at the SCO meeting.

The SCO meeting may also come with its own set of challenges. Last month, India refused to sign a joint statement at the SCO defence ministers’ meeting after it did not include any mention of the terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 people. India had pushed for strong references to terrorism, but one country — believed to be Pakistan — disagreed.

A similar deadlock may play out again during the foreign ministers’ meeting, making Jaishankar’s task tougher.

SCO is a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members include China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran.

The 25th Heads of State Council meeting of the SCO will be held in Tianjin later this year. India had chaired the SCO Presidency in 2023 while Pakistan hosted the SCO Leaders’ Summit in 2024.