PM Modi, Xi may hold bilateral meeting during SCO summit visit: Report

On October 23, 2024, President Xi Jinping met PM Modi on the margins of the BRICS Summit held in Kazan, Russia

During his upcoming visit to China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold a bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping, according to a report by News18, according to reports.

PM Modi will be in China between August 31 and September 1 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin. This will be PM Modi's first visit to China in more than seven years as the two neighbours work on further defusing tensions roiled by deadly border clashes in 2020. On October 23, 2024, President Xi Jinping met PM Modi on the margins of the BRICS Summit held in Kazan, Russia

Indian foreign ministry official Tanmaya Lal told Reuters that India's priorities at the SCO include trade, connectivity, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. PM Modi's visit comes amid  tariff tensions between India and the US escalating further on Wednesday, with Washington imposing an additional 25 per cent penalty on New Delhi over its purchase of Russian oil.

"Xi will want to use the summit as an opportunity to showcase what a post-American-led international order begins to look like and that all White House efforts since January to counter China, Iran, Russia, and now India have not had the intended effect," Eric Olander, editor-in-chief of The China-Global South Project, a research agency, told NDTV.

Xi is set to host over 20 world leaders at the regional security gathering in Tianjin beginning Sunday, projecting the forum as a show of Global South unity amid Donald Trump’s disruptive trade policies, while also offering sanctions-hit Russia another opportunity for diplomatic engagement.

Alongside Xi and Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders from Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia are expected to attend.

According to the Chinese foreign ministry, this year’s meeting will be the largest in the SCO’s history since its formation in 2001.