Chinese leader, Xi Jinping has met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the opening of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin.
Xi and Modi’s highly-anticipated meeting today, Sunday, August 31, 2025, on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tianjin, marks the Indian leader’s first visit to China in seven years.
Xi told Modi, who sat across from him, with both leaders flanked by their officials, that the world today is “swept by once-in-a-century transformations,” adding in his opening remarks that the international situation is “both fluid and chaotic.”
“It is the right choice for both sides to be friends who have good neighbourly and amicable ties, partners who enable each other’s success, and to have the dragon and the elephant dance together.”
Xi Jinping
The dragon and elephant were a reference to traditional symbols of the two nations.
Modi thanked Xi for his invitation to China and referenced the warming of relations, including an easing of tensions along their disputed Himalayan border – where the two fought a deadly skirmish in 2020.
Modi said in his opening remarks that relations with China have moved in “a meaningful direction,” adding that “there is a peaceful environment at the borders after disengagement.”
“We are committed to taking our relations forward on the basis of mutual trust and respect.”
Narendra Modi
The Indian leader’s sit-down with Xi marks a milestone in relations between Beijing and New Delhi, which have begun to ease their frictions – a shift that becomes more valuable to India in the wake of a surprise negative turn in US-India ties in recent weeks
India has traditionally been an ally of Washington, but it was hit this week by Trump’s 50 percent tariffs as punishment for its ongoing purchase of Russian oil.
The White House says India’s trade is helping to keep Russia’s economy afloat despite international sanctions, and with it, Russia’s war on Ukraine.
However, the shared threat of US tariffs has helped improve relations between New Delhi and Beijing, which had plummeted in 2020 over a deadly skirmish between border forces in the Himalayas.
The two sides reached a deal on their remote frontier in 2024, but their relationship has remained frosty. Analysts say China sees Trump’s trade war as a chance to ease India away from US-led political and military blocs such as the QUAD, a strategic security forum that includes Japan and Australia in addition to India and the US.
Modi To Take Part In SCO Summit
Modi and Russian President, Vladimir Putin are among the more than 20 world leaders attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, which is now the world’s largest regional grouping by population.
The Beijing-backed bloc will convene today and Monday, September 1, 2025, in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, bringing together a diverse range of power brokers from across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Guests range from Belarus’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko to the likes of United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.
Five heads of state will attend from the region, including Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim and Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto, as well as ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn.
Founded by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in 2001, the summit has shifted focus over the past two decades from Central Asian concerns to global matters.
The SCO has expanded its membership in recent years to include such political heavyweights as India, Pakistan, Iran and Belarus as full members, with Afghanistan and Mongolia joining as observers.
Official “dialogue partners” have also grown to 14 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Qatar, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
Following the summit, guests will have a full day in China before travelling to Beijing for a massive military parade on September 3 marking 80 years since the end of World War II in Asia.
More heads of state are due to attend the parade, with additions said to include North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Modi is not expected to stay for the parade, although analysts say that he may send a representative, such as his Foreign Minister.
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