PM Modi To Attend SCO Tianjin Summit In First China Visit Since 2018

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit China this month to attend the Tianjin Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) scheduled for August 31 to September 1. The trip is anticipated to follow a visit to Japan around August 29.

This would be Modi’s first visit to China since June 2018, when he attended the SCO summit in Qingdao. According to PTI, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Friday, “China welcomes Prime Minister Modi to China for the SCO Tianjin Summit. We believe that with the concerted effort 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 productiveness.”

Leaders from over 20 countries, including all SCO member states and heads of 10 international organisations, are expected to attend. “The SCO Tianjin Summit will be the largest summit in scale since the establishment of the SCO,” she said. Russian President Vladimir Putin is also expected to be among the attending leaders.

Relations between New Delhi and Beijing had deteriorated after the eastern Ladakh border standoff began in May 2020. The standoff ended following the disengagement from the last two friction points, Demchok and Depsang, under an agreement reached on October 21, 2024.

In October last year, Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Kazan, Russia, agreeing to revive the Special Representative dialogue on the boundary question. Since then, both sides have taken steps to rebuild ties, including resuming the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and discussing the resumption of direct flights.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval have all visited China in the past two months to attend SCO-related meetings. China currently holds the SCO chairmanship.

It remains unclear whether Modi and Xi will hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Tianjin summit. 

The SCO is an economic and security grouping comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Belarus. Founded in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the organisation admitted India and Pakistan as permanent members in 2017, Iran in 2023, and Belarus in 2024.