PM begins pivotal China visit, set to meet Xi, Putin

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in China on Saturday for his first visit in seven years that will see him holding meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin and participating in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.

- Rezaul H Laskar

The visit, also the first by the PM since India and China became embroiled in a military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in April-May 2020, has taken on greater significance because of the sudden souring of India-US relations over President Donald Trump's decision to double tariffs on Indian goods, including a 25% punitive levy over purchases of Russian oil.

Modi flew into the Chinese city of Tianjin, the venue of the SCO Summit, from Japan, where he and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba unveiled a slew of initiatives to ramp up economic cooperation, including a target of Japanese private investments of $68 billion over a decade and an Economic Security Initiative, amid the uncertainty created by the trade policies of the US.

Soon after landing in Tianjin, Modi said in a social media post: "Looking forward to deliberations at the SCO Summit and meeting various world leaders." External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Modi's visit is a "testament to our constructive and proactive role in SCO".