China welcomes PM’s visit to attend SCO summit
NEW DELHI, Aug 8: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin over phone during which the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia.
Putin briefed Modi on his country’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine, with the Prime Minister reiterating India’s consistent position for its peaceful resolution.
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The conversation between the two leaders came amid US President Donald Trump ratcheting up pressure on India over its purchase of Russian oil.
Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order, slapping an additional 25 per cent tariff on India for the purchase of Russian oil, bringing the total duties to 50 per cent — among the highest imposed by the US on any country in the world. The additional 25 per cent duty will come into effect on August 27.
In a post on X, Modi said, “Had a very good and detailed conversation with my friend President Putin. I thanked him for sharing the latest developments on Ukraine.
“We also reviewed the progress in our bilateral agenda, and reaffirmed our commitment to further deepen the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. I look forward to hosting President Putin in India later this year.”
It will be the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit.
The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement, “President Putin briefed the PM on the latest developments concerning Ukraine”.
“While thanking President Putin for his detailed assessment, the Prime Minister reiterated India’s consistent position for peaceful resolution of the conflict,” it said.
The two leaders also reviewed progress in the bilateral agenda, and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership.
Prime Minister Modi invited President Putin to India later this year for the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit, the MEA said.
Meanwhile, in Beijing, China welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s planned visit to the Tianjin Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to be held later this month, expressing hope that the event would be a “gathering of solidarity, friendship and fruitful results”.
Prime Minister Modi is expected to travel to China later this month after a gap of over seven years to attend the annual summit of the SCO, people familiar with the matter in Delhi said this week.
“China welcomes Prime Minister Modi to China for the SCO Tianjin Summit,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said while responding to a question on reports about Modi’s visit to China to attend the Tianjin summit to be held from August 31 to September 1.
“We believe that with the concerted effort of all parties, the Tianjin summit will be a gathering of solidarity, friendship and fruitful results, and the SCO will enter a new stage of high-quality development featuring greater solidarity, coordination, dynamism and productiveness,” Guo said.
Guo said that leaders of over 20 countries, including all member states of the SCO and heads of 10 international organisations, will attend relevant events.
“The SCO Tianjin Summit will be the largest summit in scale since the establishment of the SCO,” the spokesperson added.
Modi is expected to embark on a visit to Japan around August 29, and after concluding the trip, he will travel to the Chinese city of Tianjin for the SCO summit.
There is no official confirmation yet on Modi’s two-nation visit to Japan and China.
Modi last visited China in June 2018 to attend the SCO summit. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited India in October 2019 for the second “informal summit”. However, the relationship came under stress due to the eastern Ladakh border face-off.
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 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, both sides revived the Special Representative dialogue on the boundary question and other dialogue mechanisms.
The decision to revive various dialogue mechanisms was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi at Kazan in Russia on October 23, 2024.
The Modi-Xi meeting came two days after India and China firmed up a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok.
The two sides also took a number of initiatives to rebuild the ties, which included the resumption of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and New Delhi restarting issuance of tourist visas to Chinese nationals.
Both sides are also discussing modalities to resume direct flight services between the two countries.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval visited China in the last two months to attend the SCO meetings.
China is the current chair of the SCO.
It is not immediately clear whether PM Modi and President Xi will hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit.
It is expected that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be among the top leaders who will participate in the SCO summit.
The SCO, comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Belarus, is an influential economic and security bloc that has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.
It was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Pakistan became a permanent member along with India in 2017. Iran joined the grouping in 2023 and Belarus in 2024. (PTI)
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