PM Modi lands in China ahead of SCO meeting, to hold meetings with Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday arrived in China to attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on August 31 and September 1. The prime minister landed in Tianjin from Japan in the second and final leg of his two-nation.

He is in China for the first time in seven years and the first time since the Galwan valley face off between the two countries.



During the visit, Modi is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday. The meet has a greater significance amid US tariff tussle, which has impacted almost all leading economies across the world.

Modi and Xi are expected to review India-China economic ties and talk on steps to further normalise relations that came under severe strain following the eastern Ladakh border row.

Further, Modi is also expected to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and a number of other leaders on the margins of the summit.

Ahead of the Tianjin trip, Modi said it is important for India and China to work together to bring stability to the world economic order.

He also said a stable predictable, and amicable bilateral relations between India and China can have a positive impact on regional and global peace and prosperity in an interview with Japan's The Yomiuri Shimbun on Friday.

The trip to China also comes less than a fortnight after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited India.

Following Wang's wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the two sides unveiled a series of measures for a "stable, cooperative and forward-looking" relationship between the two sides.

This included joint maintenance of peace along the contested frontier, reopening border trade and resuming direct flight services at the earliest.

The two countries have initiated several measures to reset ties that that were severely strained following the deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in June 2020.

The prime minister last visited China in June, 2018, to attend the SCO summit. Chinese President Xi visited India in October 2019 for the second "informal summit".

The eastern Ladakh face-off effectively ended following completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang under an agreement finalised on October 21 last year.