After deadly border conflicts in 2020 strained relations between the Asian rivals, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet in person for the first time on Friday.
On Thursday, Modi, together with Xi and Putin of Russia, will travel to the Uzbek city of Samarkand for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional security group.
After more than two years of tension along a lonely stretch of the western Himalayan border, Indian and Chinese soldiers disengaged this week.
Since the impasse started, Modi and Xi haven’t communicated with one another.
At a news conference on Thursday, India’s foreign secretary, Vinay Kwatra, said that Modi would hold bilateral meetings with other leaders on the fringes of the summit on Friday, but he would not confirm whether or not Modi would meet with Xi.
Neither leader’s meeting has been verified by China.
China, India, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan are permanent members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
As confirmed by Russia, Putin and Modi will meet face-to-face to discuss expanding commerce and markets for Russian fertilizers and mutual food supply.
According to Kwatra, the broader SCO meetings would cover trade, regional security, tourism, and terrorism topics.
Mahnur is MS(development Studies)Student at NUST University, completed BS Hons in Eng Literature. Content Writer, Policy analyst, Climate Change specialist, Teacher, HR Recruiter.
