New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Japan on August 30 for a bilateral summit hosted by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. He will then travel to Tianjin, China, to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit hosted by President Xi Jinping on August 31 and September 1. This will be his first visit to China since the deadly Galwan Valley clash between Indian and Chinese troops in June 2020.Modi last visited China twice in 2018, first to meet President Xi informally in Wuhan, and then for the SCO summit in Qingdao that June. President Xi visited India most recently in October 2019 for an informal summit near Chennai.The SCO comprises nine member states, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyz Republic, with Belarus set to join as the tenth member. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif may also attend, marking the first in-person meeting between the Indian and Pakistani leaders since India launched Operation Sindoor against terror targets in Pakistan in May this year.During the SCO summit, Modi is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with President Xi, his second in a year following their encounter on the sidelines of last October’s BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. At that meeting, the two countries announced a military disengagement agreement for Depsang and Demchok in Ladakh after several rounds of diplomatic and military talks.India and China’s relations had soured in April–May 2020 when Chinese troops amassed along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, culminating in the Galwan Valley clash. Since then, both nations have sought to rebuild ties, with the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage to Tibet resuming this year.In a significant gesture toward normalisation, India resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals two weeks ago. This followed visits to Beijing by external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, who emphasised the importance of people-to-people exchanges, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. China welcomed the visa resumption as a boost for bilateral cooperation.Modi’s visit to Japan is also seen as an opportunity to deepen strategic ties with Tokyo, as both democracies share concerns over China’s regional military assertiveness.
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