China on Friday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which will be held from August 31 to September 1.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun stated, "China welcomes Prime Minister Modi to China for the SCO Tianjin Summit," adding that it will be a gathering of "solidarity, friendship and fruitful results" with the concerted effort of all parties.
Guo added that the SCO will enter a new stage of high-quality development featuring greater solidarity, coordination, dynamism and productiveness.
This will be the PM's first trip to China since the Galwan clashes in 2020. However, Modi had met his counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan in October 2024.
The foreign ministry spokesperson's statement comes a day after Chinese ambassador to New Delhi Xu Feihong backed India amid 50 per cent tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration, while calling Trump a "bully".
"Give the bully an inch, he will take a mile," Feihong posted on X. Along with the post, the envoy also attached a quote by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made during a phone call with Brazilian president's chief advisor on August 6. It read: "Using tariffs as a weapon to suppress other countries violates the UN Charter undermines WTO rules and is both unpopular and unsustainable".
Separately, Putin is expected to arrive in India later this year, according to National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who was in Moscow.
