NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a four-day official visit to Japan and China from August 29 to September 1, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Friday. The trip includes the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit in Tokyo and participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China’s Tianjin.According to the MEA, Modi will be in Japan from August 29 to 30 at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. This will be Modi’s eighth visit to Japan and his first bilateral summit with Ishiba.“During the visit, the two Prime Ministers will review the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan, including cooperation in defence and security, trade and economy, technology and innovation, and people-to-people exchanges,” the MEA said. Regional and global issues of mutual concern will also be discussed. The ministry added that the visit would “reaffirm the longstanding special bond of friendship between the two countries.”From August 31 to September 1, Modi will travel to China to attend the SCO Summit in Tianjin at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The summit on August 31 will bring together leaders from more than 20 member and observer states. “On the sidelines of the Summit, the Prime Minister is expected to hold bilateral meetings with several participating leaders,” the MEA said.Modi’s visit to China comes amid a cautious diplomatic reset following a prolonged border standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). His last visit to China was in 2018, for both an informal summit in Wuhan and the SCO Summit in Qingdao. President Xi later travelled to India in 2019 for an informal summit in Tamil Nadu’s Mamallapuram.In a breakthrough last year, both sides reached an understanding in October 2024 to resolve the border standoff. This was followed by a meeting between Modi and Xi in Kazan, Russia, where they agreed to revive key mechanisms for normalising ties and addressing the boundary issue.
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