New Delhi (TDI): On Wednesday, an Indian Government source said that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit China this month for the first time since 2018 amid rising tensions with the United States.
According to the government sources, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is set to host the annual summit in China, and Modi will be attending it there, which begins on August 31.
The Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Tianjin for the summit of the SCO will be his first in 7 years because China and India’s ties have worsened since the 2020 military clash along their disputed territory of the Himalaya.
The 2020 incident strained diplomatic ties and fueled mistrust between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. Since that clash, bilateral ties between the countries have remained uneasy, with repeated diplomatic and military talks struggling to resolve border issues.
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The upcoming visit may offer a rare opportunity for face-to-face engagement on key concerns. Indian Prime Minister’s trip to China comes at a very tense time when India and the US relations are in crisis, as Donald Trump has imposed the highest tariffs on Indian goods and has also threatened extra penalties for buying Russian oil.
Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia in October, which Trump calls a group “aligning themselves with anti-American policies.”
It is also reported that a government official said that India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is in Russia on a scheduled visit and is expected to discuss India’s purchases of Russian oil amid Trump’s pressure on India with high tariffs to stop buying Russian oil.
Ahead of the SCO summit, PM Modi is scheduled to visit Japan on August 30, where he will participate in the annual India-Japan Summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and from there, he will head to China.
An IR student whose interest lies in diplomacy and current affairs and a part time debater
