Chinese Foreign Ministry officials said that “China welcomes Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin.” This will be the first visit of Indian PM Narendra Modi to China since the violent clashes between Chinese and Indian soldiers in 2020. The visit is scheduled for August 31.
China is set to host the SCO Summit in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1 this year. “China welcomes Prime Minister Modi to China for the Tianjin Summit. We believe that, with the concerted efforts 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 productivity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.
Earlier in June, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar attended the SCO ministerial meeting. Jaishankar also met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and brought him up to date on recent developments in China–India relations, emphasising the importance of continuing leadership guidance in advancing bilateral ties.
Indo–China Relationship: From Confrontation to Re-engagement
India–China relations reached a historic low at the end of May 2020 following the deadly confrontation in the Galwan Valley of Eastern Ladakh — the first violent clashes between the two nations since the 1962 war. This clash claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers, with unconfirmed casualties on the Chinese side. The incident triggered a prolonged period of diplomatic freeze and a military standoff lasting more than four years.
A diplomatic breakthrough emerged on October 23, 2024, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan. This high-level engagement signalled the beginning of a thaw in relations between the two Asian powers. During the meeting, both leaders welcomed the agreement for complete disengagement along the contested border areas and the resolution of issues stemming from the 2020 standoff.
