PM Modi accepts President Xi Jinping’s invitation to attend SCO Summit in China
New Delhi, Aug 19:
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday and handed over a message and an invitation from President Xi Jinping for the SCO Summit being held in Tianjin in China.The Prime Minister thanked President Xi for the invitation to the SCO Summit and conveyed his acceptance. The SCO summit will be held in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1.A PMO release said that Wang Yi, who is a Member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, shared his positive assessment of the bilateral meeting with External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and the 24th meeting of the Special Representatives, which he co-chaired with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.PM Modi emphasised the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity on the border, and reiterated India’s commitment to a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question.He welcomed the steady and positive progress in bilateral ties since his meeting with President Xi in Kazan in Russia last year, guided by mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity, including the resumption of the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra. PM Modi and President Xi had met in October last year on the margins of the BRICS Summit in Kazan.The Prime Minister expressed support for China’s Presidency of the SCO Summit and said that he looked forward to meeting President Xi in Tianjin.He underlined that stable, predictable, and constructive ties between India and China will contribute significantly to regional and global peace and prosperity.In a post on X, PM Modi referred to steady progress in ties with China since October last year.”Glad to meet Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Since my meeting with President Xi in Kazan last year, India-China relations have made steady progress guided by respect for each other’s interests and sensitivities. I look forward to our next meeting in Tianjin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. Stable, predictable, constructive ties between India and China will contribute significantly to regional as well as global peace and prosperity,” he said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to China to attend the upcoming summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said on Tuesday during his talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
In his televised opening remarks at a new edition of the Special Representatives’ Dialogue on boundary question, Doval also highlighted the “new energy and momentum” in India-China ties as well as peace along the border.
There has been peace and tranquillity along the border, Doval said, adding “the bilateral engagements between the two countries have been “more substantial” now.
Our prime minister will be visiting China for the SCO summit and therefore, today’s talks assume very special importance, he added.
It is the first official confirmation of Modi’s travel to the Chinese city of Tianjin to attend the summit on August 31 and September 1.
Doval hoped that the 24th Special Representatives (SR) talks will be “successful”.
The Chinese foreign minister landed in Delhi on Monday primarily to hold the SR talks with Doval.
Wang’s visit is largely seen as part of ongoing efforts by the two neighbours to rebuild their relationship after it came under severe strain following the deadly
India-China relations
Galwan Valley clashes in 2020.In the SR talks, both sides are expected to deliberate on new confidence-building measures besides reviewing the overall situation along the LAC.Though the two sides disengaged troops from the friction points, they are yet to de-escalate the situation by pulling back the frontline forces from the border. Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC in the eastern Ladakh region. NSA Doval travelled to China in December last and held the SR talks with Wang, weeks after Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping decided to revive various dialogue mechanisms between the two sides at a meeting in the Russian city of Kazan.
The military standoff in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020 and the clashes at the Galwan Valley in June that year resulted in a severe strain in bilateral ties.
The face-off effectively ended following completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang under an agreement finalised on October 21 last year.
In the last few months, the two sides also initiated a number of initiatives to rebuild the ties that included resumption of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and New Delhi restarting issuance of tourist visas to Chinese nationals.
