Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China later this month to participate in the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tianjin city, from August 31 to September 1, his National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval confirmed on Tuesday.
During the 24th round of Special Representative-level talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Doval confirmed that PM Modi will visit China for the SCO summit.
“Our Prime Minister will be visiting for the SCO Summit shortly, and therefore, I think that these SR-level talks assume a very special importance,” Doval said in his opening remarks during the talks.
This will be Modi’s first visit after 2019 and the 2020 India-China border standoff. Modi’s previous visit to China came in 2019. The Prime Minister had last met President Xi Jinping in 2024 at the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia.
India and China, whose ties have been strained since the 2020 border standoff, are now seeking to mend their bilateral relationship amid major global developments, inclduing US President Donald Trump’s imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on New Delhi and looming threat of similar measures on Beijing.
Both countries have resumed high-levels talks. Last month, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks in Beijing. Jaishankar also met Chinese President Xi Jinping during the visit.