PM Modi to Meet Xi Jinping in China After Seven Years

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on August 31 in Tianjin, during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit—his first visit to China in more than seven years.

The two-day summit, running from August 31 to September 1, is set to host over 20 world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a show of Global South solidarity amid heightened global tensions. Leaders from Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia are also expected to attend.

Modi’s visit comes as India and China work to ease tensions following the 2020 border clashes. He last appeared alongside Xi and Putin at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, in 2024, even as Western powers continued to isolate Moscow over the Ukraine war.

Diplomatic sources in New Delhi say Moscow is keen on trilateral talks between India, China and Russia, raising expectations that the Tianjin summit may pave the way for a broader engagement among the three powers.