China welcomes PM Modi’s visit to Tianjin for SCO summit

China welcomes PM Modi’s visit to Tianjin for SCO summit

China on Friday welcomed PM Modi's visit to Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. PM Modi will be visiting Beijing on August 31 and this will be his first visit since the violent clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in 2020.

"China welcomes Prime Minister Modi to China for the SCO Tianjin Summit. We believe that with the concerted effort of all parties, the Tianjin summit will be a gathering of solidarity, friendship and fruitful results, and the SCO will enter a new stage of high-quality development featuring greater solidarity, coordination, dynamism and productiveness," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said in a statement.

"China will host the SCO Summit in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1 this year. Leaders of over 20 countries including all member states of the SCO and heads of 10 international organizations will attend relevant events. The SCO Tianjin Summit will be the largest summit in scale since the establishment of the SCO," he added.

Additionally, PM Modi will visit Japan on August 30 before heading to China for a two-day visit.

Media reports also indicated a possibility of informal meetings with Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the summit. PM Modi and Xi Jinping had earlier met at the BRICS Summit in Kazan in October 2024.

Earlier this year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also attended the SCO meetings.

Jaishankar had also met Xi in Beijing and had also briefed him on recent developments in India-China relations while emphasising the importance of continued leadership guidance in advancing bilateral ties.