PRIME MINISTER’S VISIT TO CHINA

By Anshika Khera

The Prime Minister, after seven years , again landed in China on Saturday. He went for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tianjin, which will be held for two days, starting Sunday. He was welcomed by the Indian diaspora.

The Prime Minister will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday amid the 50% tariffs imposed on India by US President Donald Trump and China’s own tussle with the US over levies.The PM is also expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

Trump’s 25% tariffs brought  India closer to both Moscow and Beijing . PM Modi, who was in Japan ahead of the visit, said in an interview there that India-China ties are crucial and will have a “positive impact on regional peace and prosperity”. “At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, I will travel to Tianjin from here to take part in the SCO summit. Since my meeting with President Xi in Kazan (at the SCO meet in Russia) last year, steady and positive progress has been made in our bilateral ties,” PM Modi said. India and China also decided, after Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visited New Delhi earlier this month, to work on a settlement of the boundary question and said an expert group will be set up to explore an early solution to boundary delimitation. The countries also agreed to resume direct flight connectivity at the earliest, as well as the facilitation of visas.