Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in China after a gap of seven years, will Sunday meet President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin.
The two leaders are expected to meet around noon for 40 minutes.
The meeting holds significance as it comes amid global trade uncertainties due to the imposition of reciprocal tariffs by US President Donald Trump.
The 2025 SCO Summit, the largest since it was founded in 2001, is already being hailed by China as “an important force in building a new type of international relations.”
It is also being seen as a major show of Global South solidarity amid Trump’s trade war.
Modi, who arrived in Tianjin on Saturday, will be meeting the Chinese President after around 10 months. The two leaders had last met in Russia during BRICS Summit in Kazan last year.
Since then, the ties between the two countries have improved significantly. Troops disengagement at border is happening and direct flights are likely to be resumed soon.
Border trade is also expected to resume and Beijing has agreed to uninterrupted urea and rare earth minerals supply.
Earlier this month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also visited India, where he held a series of meetings with Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval, and PM Modi. Wang formally handed over President Jinping’s invitation to Modi for the SCO Summit.
After meeting Wang, Modi highlighted the steady progress in India-China ties since his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan, Russia, last year.
The Prime Minister underlined that stable, predictable, and constructive ties between India and China will contribute significantly to regional and global peace and prosperity.