China welcomes PM Modi for SCO summit in Tianjin, first visit since Galwan clash

New Delhi: China has extended a warm welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his participation in the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, as Beijing seeks to strengthen its engagement with New Delhi amid rising global concerns over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

The summit will take place in Tianjin city on August 31 and September 1. Addressing the media, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the event would mark a milestone for the regional bloc. "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," he said.

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SCO was founded in 2001 and the organisation aims to enhance regional stability through cooperation. It currently has 10 members — Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Tianjin summit will bring together leaders of all member states, along with representatives from 10 international organisations.

The trip will be PM Modi’s first visit to China since the 2020 Galwan Valley clash, which strained bilateral relations. His last trip was in 2019. Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping most recently met in October 2024 on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, a meeting that helped revive dialogue between the two sides. On the sidelines of the SCO summit, Modi is expected to hold bilateral discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.

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The visit comes at a time when India faces steep US tariffs for purchasing Russian crude oil — a move by Washington that could influence New Delhi’s balancing strategy in global diplomacy. The tariffs have, in some ways, pushed India and China closer, with Xi recently telling Indian President Droupadi Murmu that both nations should “work more closely together.”

The summit also takes place against the backdrop of China’s support for Pakistan and the recent Pahalgam terror attack. Earlier, during an SCO defence ministers’ meeting, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh declined to sign a joint statement after it mentioned Balochistan but omitted any reference to the Pahalgam incident, which claimed 26 lives.