Xi Jinping bilateral likely as PM Narendra Modi to visit China for SCO

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to meet on the sidelines of the SCO leaders’ summit scheduled at Tianjin in China from August 31 to September 1.

This would be the first visit by PM Modi to China since the June 2020 Galwan clash and the second bilateral between the two leaders since their meeting in Kazan (Russia) on the sidelines of the BRCIS summit in October last year. After the Kazan event, the two sides engaged in confidence-building measures, including the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra to Tibet.

The PM’s last visit to China was in 2019, but the latest one comes amid a shift in India-US relations following the imposition of 50 per cent tariffs by US President Donald Trump in response to New Delhi’s purchase of crude oil from Russia.

Modi’s participation at the SCO summit also comes in the backdrop of China’s support for Pakistan during Operation Sindoor even as Beijing had condemned “all forms of terrorism” after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. The SCO summit is expected to cover terrorism, regional security and trade.

Ahead of Modi’s visit, the special representatives (SR) of India and China on the boundary dispute are scheduled to meet in New Delhi on August 18 for the 24th round of talks. India is to be represented by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and China by its Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The SR-level talks too are an outcome of the Modi-Xi Kazan meeting as the two sides had decided to work out a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable” solution to the border dispute. In June and July, India twice pressed upon China to resolve issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, at a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun in Beijing, had stressed the need for having a “permanent solution” to the border dispute through demarcation and suggested a roadmap for the de-escalation of troops.

In July, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, at a meeting with his counterpart Wang Yi, said, “It is now incumbent upon us to address other border dispute aspects, including de-escalation."

Modi’s visit to China for the SCO summit and Wang Yi’s to New Delhi for the SR talks, however, are yet to be formally announced. Established in 2001, the 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.