Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping on August 31 during the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, his first visit to China in over seven years. Apart from this, PM will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 1 in Tianjin. The meetings will draw global attention, as they occur amid India-US trade tensions, with Trump imposing penalties over India’s continued purchase of Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine. Ahead of the meeting, New Delhi made it clear it expects the SCO to strongly condemn cross-border terrorism.
When Will PM Head To China?
As part of the first leg of his trip, PM Modi traveled to Tokyo to hold the annual India-Japan summit with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, marking his first standalone visit to Japan in nearly seven years. After concluding his visit to Japan, he will travel to Tianjin to participate in the SCO summit on August 31 and September 1. At a joint media briefing, officials stated that India is working with other SCO member countries and partners to ensure that the summit declaration strongly condemns terrorism.
At a joint media briefing with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Tanmaya Lal, Secretary (West) in the external affairs ministry, said that New Delhi is working with other SCO member countries and partners to ensure that the summit declaration strongly condemns terrorism.
“The SCO was established with the primary goal of countering three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism, which continue to remain a challenge,” he said. “In the past, there have been strong condemnations of terrorism, including cross-border terrorism, in the statements that have been finalised, including the joint statement that I referred to, which was finalised during our presidency of the summit,” he said.
“As far as the declaration at this (upcoming) summit is concerned, that is under finalisation — the text. We are working with other members and partners to see that there should be a reiteration of the strong condemnation of terrorism, including cross-border terrorism. But the text is under finalisation,” he said.
