PM Modi to visit China after gap of over 7 years

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) After a gap of more than seven years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to China on August 31 to attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) amid signs of a thaw in the bilateral ties following a spell of fractious relationship over the eastern Ladakh border row.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Friday that Modi will visit the Chinese city of Tianjin from August 31 to September 1, after concluding his two-day trip to Japan.

Modi's trip to China comes against the backdrop of a downturn in India-US ties after US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, including 25 per cent additional duties for New Delhi's purchase of Russian crude oil.

The formal announcement of Modi's visit to China was made three days after New Delhi and Beijing unveiled a series of measures for a "stable, cooperative and forward-looking" relationship that included jointly maintaining peace along the contested frontier, reopening border trade and resuming direct flight services at the earliest.

The measures were announced on Tuesday at the end of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's two-day trip to New Delhi.

The MEA said Modi will visit Japan from August 29 to 30 to participate in the 15th India-Japan annual summit. From Japan, the prime minister will travel to China for a visit on August 31 and September 1 to attend the SCO summit.

Modi is set to hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the SCO summit.

The prime minister's visit to China comes amid efforts by the two sides to repair the bilateral ties that came under severe strain following the deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan valley in June 2020.

Modi last visited China in June 2018 to attend the SCO summit. The Chinese president visited India in October 2019 for the second "informal summit".

"In the second leg of his visit, at the invitation of the President of China, Xi Jinping, the prime minister will travel to China from August 31 to September 1 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin," the MEA said in a statement.

"On the sidelines of the summit, the prime minister is expected to hold bilateral meetings with several leaders attending the summit," it said.

The ties between the two neighbours nosedived following the deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan valley in eastern Ladakh in June 2020.

The eastern Ladakh face-off effectively ended following the completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang under an agreement finalised on October 21 last year.

During their talks on the sidelines of the SCO summit, Modi and Xi are expected to deliberate on new measures to further ease tensions in the bilateral ties that may include de-escalation of the situation along the frontier in eastern Ladakh.

The SCO summit will be held in Tianjin on August 31 and September 1.

In the first leg of his trip, Modi will visit Japan from August 29 to 30 to participate in the 15th India-Japan annual summit.

This will be Modi's eighth visit to Japan as the prime minister.

Modi and his Japanese counterpart, Shigeru Ishiba, will review the special strategic and global partnership between India and Japan, the MEA said.

It said the discussions between the two sides will cover areas like defence and security, trade and economy, technology and innovation, and people-to-people exchanges.

Modi and Ishiba will also discuss issues of regional and global importance, it said.

"The visit will reaffirm the longstanding special bond of friendship between the two countries," the MEA said. PTI MPB RC