- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the SCO summit in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1
- This marks Modi's first visit to China since 2019 amid efforts to normalise ties post-Galwan
- China condemned the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and called for enhanced counterterrorism cooperation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China to attend the regional summit SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) in Tianjin city from August 31 to September 1 - signalling another step towards normalising ties between the two nations that had frayed after the Galwan clash of 2020.
PM Modi's last visit to China was in 2019. But he had met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan in October 2024.
The visit comes amid the imposition of stiff tariffs from US president Donald Trump and increasing pressure on India regarding oil purchase from Russia. There is expectation that under the circumstances, India's recalibration of ties with China is expected to act as a balancing factor for the US.
India's participation would also be in the backdrop of Chinese support for Pakistan and the shadow of Pahalgam attack.
In June, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had refused to sign a joint statement at a defence minister's meet under SCO because it skipped any mention of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives and instead, mentioned Balochistan, tacitly accusing India of creating unrest there.
Pahalgam's exclusion from the document appeared to have been done at the behest of Pakistan.
The next month, though, China issued a strong statement against terror as the US designated The Resistance Front, a proxy of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, as a foreign terrorist organisation for its involvement in the Pahalgam attack.
"China firmly opposes all forms of terrorism and strongly condemns the terrorist attack that occurred on April 22... China calls on regional countries to enhance counterterrorism cooperation and jointly maintain regional security and stability," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian.
This time at the SCO, discussions with 10 member countries is expected to cover terrorism and regional security along with trade. Efforts will be made to restore stability and dialogue in India-China relations.
There is a possibility that PM Modi will have bilateral meetings with Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit.
In October 2024, PM Modi and Xi Jinping had met at the BRICS summit in Kazan. Following that, efforts to reduce border tensions between the two countries had gained momentum and the resumption of the Kailash-Mansarovar yatra had helped normalise ties to a great extent.
Established in 2001, SCO aims to promote regional stability through cooperation. The bloc currently has 10 member states -- Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
