India-China ties key to world economic order: Modi

Ahead of meeting with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of SCO summit in China, PM calls for 'stable, predictable, and amicable' bilateral relations with Beijing

- JAYANTH JACOB @ New Delhi

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reaffirmed the critical importance of strong India-China relations, highlighting their potential to foster regional peace, prosperity, and stability to the world economic order.

In an interview with Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun, Modi said India is ready to advance its bilateral ties with China from a long-term strategic perspective rooted in mutual respect, interest, and sensitivity.

"Given the current volatility in the world economy, it is also important for India and China, as two major economies, to work together to bring stability to the world economic order," Modi said, stressing the global stakes involved in their partnership.

His forthcoming visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, set for August 31 and September 1 in Tianjin, will be his first in seven years and is widely viewed as an opportunity to take their ties significantly forward amid global flux unleashed by Trump tariffs. Modi is set to hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the summit's sidelines.