PM Modi To Visit China For SCO Meet On August 31, His First Trip Since 2020 Galwan Clash

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China from August 31 to September 1 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, as per reports.

PM Modi's last official visit to the country was in June 2019.

The report of PM Modi's potential China visit comes days after US President Donald Trump slapped a 25% tariff on Indian imports, and on Tuesday threatened to "substantially" increase tariffs due to New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil. He accused India of fuelling the "Russian war machine".

According to reports, during his China visit, PM Modi might hold informal meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin on the sidelines of the SCO conference.

India's involvement would occur against the context of China's backing for Pakistan and the recent Pahalgam incident.

During the BRICS summit in Kazan in October 2024, PM Modi and President Xi Jinping held discussions. Subsequently, initiatives to ease frontier tensions between both nations gathered pace, with the restoration of the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage significantly contributing to diplomatic normalisation.

Founded in 2001, the SCO seeks to foster regional peace through collaborative efforts. The organisation presently comprises 10 nations: Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.