New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in China on Saturday, marking his first visit to the country in over seven years. His visit comes at a time of sudden deterioration in India-US relations over tariff policies.
Modi is in China primarily to attend the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on August 31 and September 1. However, his scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen as particularly significant in light of Washington’s tariff dispute.
The leaders are expected to discuss measures to strengthen India-China economic ties. Prime Minister Modi is also likely to hold bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders during the summit.
Ahead of his visit to Tianjin, Modi told Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun that it is crucial for India and China, as two major economies, to work together to stabilize the global economic order amid current uncertainties.
Modi’s visit follows Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent trip to India, where talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval resulted in a series of measures to ensure a “stable, cooperative, and forward-looking” relationship.
These measures included joint maintenance of peace along the disputed border, resumption of border trade, and revival of direct flight services.
The visit also comes after months of efforts to restore ties strained by the deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in June 2020. Modi had last visited China in June 2018 to attend the SCO summit.
