PM Modi SCO Summit LIVE: PM Modi lands in Delhi after Japan, China visit

Russian oil is still very important for India’s energy needs. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar’s recent visit to Russia showed that, despite Western sanctions and Moscow’s growing closeness with China, India still values its ties with Russia. For Delhi, the relationship is both a vital source of energy and a way to show that it follows an independent foreign policy. Putin and Modi’s meeting at China’s SCO summit will make a global mark considering the recent tariff pressure from the US.

The time for India-China talks has been given 40 minutes. A senior Chinese diplomat told The Indian Express that he is hopeful the meeting will bring good results. Both leaders are likely to approve a calendar of events planned to celebrate 75 years of diplomatic ties, with final discussions still going on as of Saturday. The Prime Minister arrived in Tianjin from Japan for the SCO summit, which runs from August 31 to September 1. This is his first visit to China in seven years.

The SCO summit will start today with an official banquet hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping. This year, China is the rotating chair of the 10-member group, which includes Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, and China itself.

Around twenty foreign leaders are attending the expanded SCO Plus summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin has already arrived. Other leaders who have already arrived include Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Nepal’s Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli, and Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu. The main leaders’ meeting will take place on Monday.

The New York Times reported on Saturday that US President Donald Trump has dropped his plans to visit India later this year for the Quad Summit. The paper said ties between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have soured in recent months.

The Trump administration had hosted the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in January, just a day after Trump began his second term in office.

According to the report, growing trade tensions between India and the U.S. added to the strain. Relations also worsened after Trump repeatedly claimed he had resolved the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May, a statement that India strongly rejected. The New York Times noted that Modi was angered by Trump’s comments and had begun to lose patience with the US leader.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reached the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Sunday to take part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. The meeting, hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, will bring together about 20 other world leaders.

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#watch | Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in China at the start of a four-day visit. President Putin will first attend the two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin.

(Reuters via Ruptly for Russian Pool) pic.twitter.com/XX5zFVb64o

— ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2025

India still depends heavily on China for its manufacturing needs, especially for raw materials and components. It is imperative that New Delhi will likely push for lower import duties on these goods. However, India’s strict industrial policies have prevented it from fully benefiting from the global supply chain shift away from China to Southeast Asian countries.

Priyanka Kishore, founder and principal economist at Asia Decoded, tells BBC that there is strong potential for partnership if India positions itself as a bigger hub for electronics manufacturing. She explained that companies like Apple already make AirPods and wearables in Vietnam while producing iPhones in India, which shows there is no overlap and both can play different roles in the supply chain.

Kishore added that China could also score quick wins by easing visa approvals. Beijing wants greater access to the Indian market, either directly or through investments, as it struggles with a shrinking U.S. market and saturated ASEAN markets. With popular Chinese apps such as Shein and TikTok banned in India, China would welcome new ways to reach India’s 1.45 billion consumers.

Although one meeting alone will not transform the complex relationship between the two countries, but Modi’s visit to China could help ease tensions and signal clearly to Washington that India has alternatives.

In a post on X on Saturday, PM Modi thanked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the phone call. He said they discussed the ongoing conflict, its humanitarian impact, and ways to restore peace and stability. Modi added that India fully supports all initiatives aimed at achieving these goals.

Marking a shift in tone, Chinese President Xi earlier this year suggested that India and China should work together more closely for their shared interests. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi carried the same message during his recent visit to Delhi, urging the two neighbours to treat each other as partners instead of rivals.

During the visit, both sides agreed to restart direct flights and resume issuing visas to boost business and cultural exchanges. They also decided to reopen border trade at designated points. Another key outcome was the decision to revive the stalled “dual-track” approach, which separates border disputes from wider cooperation, ensuring disagreements don’t derail overall ties.

Despite tensions in recent years, China has remained India’s second-largest trading partner. India, in turn, continues to depend on Chinese components and raw materials for many of its industries.

PM Modi will likely hold two separate meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the SCO summit. The following day, he is scheduled for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. For Modi, appearing on stage with both Xi and Putin will send a strong signal to U.S. President Donald Trump. In recent weeks, Trump and his officials have stepped up criticism of India for buying Russian oil while the Ukraine war continues. White House adviser Peter Navarro even claimed that the conflict in Ukraine was essentially “Modi’s war.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow and Beijing are working together to strengthen BRICS so it can tackle global challenges and respond to Western sanctions, which he argued are damaging the economic growth of member states and the wider world. In an interview with China’s Xinhua News Agency ahead of the 25th SCO Summit in Tianjin, Putin underlined growing cooperation with China in international forums. He stressed that both countries want BRICS to become a central part of the global order and are pushing for reforms in global financial institutions.

He added that Russia and China are building joint platforms in key sectors under the BRICS framework. Putin also repeated his call to reform the IMF and World Bank, saying the current system is unfair and allows powerful nations to use financial tools in ways that resemble colonial practices. He further praised China’s role in the G20 and welcomed the African Union’s inclusion in the grouping, calling it an important step in aligning BRICS with other global alliances.

Less than three weeks after Donald Trump welcomed Vladimir Putin at a US airbase in Alaska, the Russian president is set to visit China even as Moscow’s missiles rain down on Ukraine. Putin will join the Tianjin summit and later stand beside China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un at a massive military parade in Beijing on September 3, a striking display of unity among the three powers. Trump’s shifting signals toward Putin are unlikely to weaken the partnership between Russia and China, a CNN report said. Their ties have only grown stronger, with record trade flows and expanded security cooperation, including their first-ever joint submarine patrol in the Pacific.

Donald Trump’s hard line on India, even calling its economy “dead”, marked a sharp break from years of US support for New Delhi as a democratic counterbalance to China. CNN citing experts say the tariff shock has nudged PM Narendra Modi to soften his stance towards Beijing and cautiously engage with President Xi Jinping. The two neighbours had already been testing ways to improve their tense relationship. Modi’s very presence in Tianjin for the summit signals a strategic shift and shows India’s growing vulnerability in a changing global order.

The leaders of three of the world’s biggest countries are gathering in Tianjin, China, for the 25th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will join other heads of state for the Eurasian summit. But one key figure will be missing – US President Donald Trump.

Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Washington-based Stimson Center told CNN that, “”For this particular summit, the US may not be at the table, but the US is always present”, which likely means that Trump is obviously going to be the major topic of conversation even in his absence.

The violent clashes in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley in June 2020 marked the worst fighting period between India and China in more than 40 years. The impact was felt most in the economy. Plans for direct flights were scrapped, visas and Chinese investments were stalled, major infrastructure projects slowed down, and India banned over 200 Chinese apps, including TikTok.

Undoubtedly, fresh dialogue is needed, not just for the two countries, but also for other global powers who see India-China ties as central to Asia’s stability. But the challenges of course remain.

Disagreements over Tibet, the Dalai Lama, and water disputes, especially China’s plan to build the world’s largest hydroelectric dam on a river shared with India, continue to create friction. Add to this tensions with Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack, and the picture looks even more complex.

While India struggles with uneasy ties with most of its South Asian neighbours, China enjoys strong trade links with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in China on Saturday amid the steep new US tariffs that hit India’s key exports like diamonds and shrimp. Since Wednesday, tariffs on Indian goods going to America have doubled to 50%. US President Donald Trump said the move was punishment for India’s continued purchase of Russian oil. Experts have warned that the blow could hurt India’s export sector and slow down its growth plans.

China too is feeling the pressure on the same lines. President Xi Jinping is struggling to revive the economy while facing soaring US tariffs that threaten his recovery efforts.

In this tense setting, Modi and Xi may both be looking for a fresh start. Their relationship has long been clouded by mistrust and unresolved border disputes, but shared economic pressures could open the door for a reset.