Tianjin, Aug 31 — Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tianjin on Sunday during the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, marking their first interaction in ten months. The talks are seen as an important step towards strengthening bilateral relations and consolidating recent progress between the two Asian neighbours, even as global economic uncertainties persist.
The breakthrough was made possible after both sides agreed on new patrolling protocols along the 3,500-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC), easing a four-year-long border standoff. The last Modi–Xi meeting had taken place on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in 2024.
PM Modi arrived in Tianjin on Saturday to a colourful welcome at Binhai International Airport. Posting on X, he said he looked forward to “in-depth discussions during the SCO summit and meeting with leaders from various countries.”
The visit comes weeks after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s trip to India for Special Representatives-level talks. During that visit, Wang underscored Beijing’s “great importance” to PM Modi’s participation in the SCO summit and reiterated that a stable India-China relationship aligns with long-term global interests.
In a recent interview with Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun, PM Modi stressed India’s readiness to build ties with China on the basis of “mutual respect, mutual interest, and mutual sensitivity.” He highlighted the “steady and positive progress” made since his last meeting with Xi in 2024, adding that predictable relations between the two nations are vital for regional peace and a multipolar world order.
On the global economic front, PM Modi noted that with increasing volatility, it is crucial for India and China, as major economies, to cooperate in bringing stability to the world economy.
