New Delhi/Tianjin; Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel to China later this month to attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in what would be his first visit to China in more than seven years, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a government source with direct knowledge of the matter.
The visit, scheduled for August 31 in the Chinese city of Tianjin, comes at a time of rising tensions between New Delhi and Washington, after former US President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs on Indian exports and warned of further penalties over India’s continued purchase of Russian crude oil.
According to Reuters, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has not officially confirmed the visit, but Modi’s expected participation in the SCO summit which includes Russia, China, Pakistan, and several Central Asian countries signals a potential thaw in the strained relations between India and China, which worsened after a deadly border clash in 2020.
Meanwhile, India is facing its most serious trade dispute with the US in recent years. Trump has threatened imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on India.
The former US president said that further actions would be determined after evaluating India’s oil trade with Russia. An internal Indian government assessment, cited by Reuters, suggests that if the tariff of even 35 percent is applied, India could lose a significant competitive advantage on nearly 64 billion dollars’ worth of goods exported to the US, which accounts for around 80 percent of India’s total exports to the country.
India exported an estimated 81 billion dollars in goods to the United States in 2024.
While tensions rise with Washington, India is maintaining close ties with Moscow. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is currently on a visit to Russia to discuss strategic cooperation, including faster deliveries of S-400 air defense systems and a potential visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to India. Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is also expected to visit Russia in the coming weeks, Reuters noted.
This will be Modi’s first visit to China since June 2018. Relations between the two Asian powers deteriorated following the 2020 Himalayan border skirmishes, which led to casualties on both sides. However, recent diplomatic contacts, including an informal meeting between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the BRICS summit in Russia in October 2024, have slightly eased tensions.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit offers Modi an opportunity to reset regional ties, especially amid India’s increasingly strained relationship with the United States.
Despite trade uncertainty, the Reserve Bank of India has retained its GDP growth forecast at 6.5 percent for the 2024–25 fiscal year, noting that exports form a relatively small portion of India’s 4 trillion dollar economy and may not significantly impact broader growth.
Reuters said that the internal government report assessing the tariff impact is a preliminary estimate and subject to change depending on the final decisions taken by Washington.
