Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Tianjin, China, on Saturday, August 30, to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, marking his first visit to China in seven years.
Invited by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Modi will hold bilateral meetings with Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit, which runs from August 31 to September 1.
The visit comes at a sensitive time, with India–China ties showing signs of thaw following years of strain since the 2020 Ladakh border clashes. Direct flights between the two nations have resumed, and both sides have agreed to new mechanisms to reduce border friction.
The summit is also set against a backdrop of global trade tensions, particularly U.S. tariff escalations, making Modi’s participation significant for India’s push to strengthen cooperation with regional and Global South partners.
Analysts see the visit as a diplomatic milestone, with potential to reshape the trajectory of India–China relations while reinforcing multilateral engagement at a time of global realignment.
