PM Modi, Chinese President Xi likely to meet twice on SCO summit sidelines to strengthen ties

Xi and Modi met last year at Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to hold two bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin – with both countries aiming to strengthen ties amid global trade tensions sparked by US President Donald Trump’s recent tariff announcements.

The Prime Minister, who is currently in Japan, will reach Tianjin on Saturday evening. Sources indicate that a bilateral meeting between him and President Xi is scheduled for Sunday around noon, news agency PTI reported. A second meeting is also possible before the official banquet for the SCO summit.

PM Modi will on Monday take part in the SCO Summit and is likely to have a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin before leaving for India.

The summit of the 10-member bloc is regarded as significant and most consequential from the point of view of India-China relations in the current context of a sudden downturn in India-US ties after Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Indian exports.

The visit to China would mark the first time Modi has been to the country in seven years, making it perhaps the most significant. Although he is set to hold bilateral meetings with multiple leaders, his meeting with President Xi is expected to be the most closely watched, drawing global interest.

Xi and Modi met last year at Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, which ended over a four-year deadlock or freeze in the bilateral ties over the military tensions in Eastern Ladakh.

Ahead of his visit, PM Modi said that India and China, as two major economies, must work together to bring stability to the world economic order.

In an interview with Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, the PM said, “Given the current volatility in the world economy, it is also important for India and China, as two major economies, to work together to bring stability to the world economic order,” he said.