Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1, 2025. This will be his first official trip to China since the Galwan clash in 2020, marking a significant step toward the normalization of bilateral ties between India and China. PM Modi's last visit to China was in 2019, though he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan in October 2024. This upcoming visit is being seen as an important moment in improving relations, which had been strained after the border skirmishes of 2020.
The visit comes amid rising global pressures, including tough tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump and scrutiny over India's oil purchases from Russia. There is anticipation that India’s engagement with China at the SCO Summit will provide a balancing factor for India in its relations with the US. India’s participation at the summit is also noteworthy in the context of China's support for Pakistan and the shadow of the Pahalgam terror attack in 2022.
In June 2025, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had refused to sign a joint statement at the SCO defence minister’s meeting due to its failure to address the Pahalgam attack, in which 26 lives were lost. The statement, instead, made indirect references to Balochistan, which India deemed inappropriate. However, China later issued a strong condemnation of terrorism, specifically the Pahalgam attack, signaling a more cooperative stance on counterterrorism.
The SCO Summit will likely cover issues such as terrorism, regional security, and trade. PM Modi is also expected to have bilateral meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit. These discussions are expected to focus on strategic security, economic cooperation, and enhancing bilateral ties.
The SCO, established in 2001, aims to foster regional stability through cooperation, and its member states include Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. As India continues to recalibrate its foreign policy, this summit could be an important step towards resolving long-standing tensions in the region and strengthening ties with China.
