India committed to improving ties with China, Modi tells Xi before SCO meet

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told China’s President Xi Jinping that helium is committed to improving bilateral ties, indicating a increasing closeness to Beijing lone 5 days aft the United States slapped steep tariffs connected Indian goods.

“We are committed to progressing our relations based connected communal respect, spot and sensitivities,” Modi told Xi connected the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) acme that begins successful Tianjin connected Sunday.

Modi is successful China for the archetypal clip successful 7 years to be the two-day SCO summit, on with Russian President Vladimir Putin and different leaders from Asia and the Middle East, successful a amusement of Global South solidarity.

The Indian person posted a video clip of his brushwood with the Chinese president connected his X account.

Sharing my remarks during gathering with President Xi Jinping. https://t.co/pw1OAMBWdc

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 31, 2025

Xi besides pledged to resoluteness borderline differences with India and bolster cooperation. He said helium hoped the Tianjin gathering volition “further elevate” and “promote the sustained, steadfast and unchangeable improvement of bilateral relations,” according to authorities broadcaster CCTV.

The 2 sides should “not fto the borderline contented specify the wide China-India relationship,” Xi said, adding that economical improvement for some countries should beryllium their main focus.

“As agelong arsenic they stay committed to the overarching extremity of being partners, not rivals, and providing improvement opportunities, not threats, China-India relations volition flourish and determination guardant steadily,” Xi said.

‘Moving person to Beijing’

Modi’s connection came aft longtime ally, the US, imposed punishing 50 percent tariffs connected Indian goods connected Wednesday implicit New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, a determination that whitethorn person accelerated his country’s ongoing thawing of relations with China.

Reporting from Tianjin, wherever the two-day SCO acme is being held, Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu said Modi had “made the calculation that helium should beryllium moving person to Beijing”, indicating that the days of the US utilizing India arsenic a counterweight against China were over.

In Sunday’s meeting, Modi said an ambiance of “peace and stability” had been created connected the disputed Himalayan border, wherever Indian and Chinese troops clashed successful 2020.

Modi said India and China had reached an statement connected borderline absorption and added that nonstop flights betwixt the countries, suspended since 2020, were “being resumed”.

Al Jazeera’s Yu said the deadly clashes had marked a “low point” successful relations betwixt the nuclear-armed strategical rivals, but that relations had improved successful caller months, with officials “talking and gathering consistently astir the border” and different issues.

In caller months, China has allowed Indian pilgrims to sojourn Buddhist sites successful Tibet, and some countries person lifted reciprocal tourer visa restrictions.

China had agreed to assistance export curbs connected uncommon earths, fertilisers and passageway boring machines this period during a key visit to India by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

This month, Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong said his state opposed Washington’s steep tariffs connected India and would “firmly stand” with New Delhi.

Powerful bloc

Modi and Putin are among the much than 20 satellite leaders attending the SCO summit.

China and Russia person sometimes touted the SCO arsenic an alternate to the NATO subject alliance. This year’s acme is the archetypal since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

“China has agelong sought to contiguous the SCO arsenic a non-Western-led powerfulness bloc that promotes a caller benignant of planetary relations, which, it claims, is much democratic,” said Dylan Loh, an adjunct prof astatine Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.

Established successful 2001, the SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, with 16 much countries affiliated arsenic observers oregon “dialogue partners”.

Combined, SCO members correspond 42 percent of the planetary population, oregon much than 3 cardinal people, and astir a 4th of the planet’s landmass.

The progressively almighty bloc accounts for 23 percent of planetary gross home product, worthy astir $24 trillion a year. And it controls astir 20 percent of the world’s lipid and astir 44 percent of planetary state reserves.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies