Tianjin, China
—
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of a summit in China’s port city of Tianjin as the two powers seek to mend ties in the face of US pressure.
Xi’s meeting with Modi at the Tianjin Guest House began around noon on Sunday local time, China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Modi arrived on Saturday for the two-day gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a Beijing- and Moscow-founded regional security group, which also includes India’s neighbor and rival Pakistan. It is the Indian leader’s first visit to China in seven years.
The meeting marks the latest milestone in what’s been a noticeable and cautious warming of ties between China and India – a shift that appears to be accelerated by a surprise turn in US-India ties in recent weeks.
US President Donald Trump has leveraged significant economic penalties on India, placing its imports into the US under 25% tariffs and then slapping an additional 25% on the country over its imports of Russian oil – part of the US president’s bid to pressure Putin to end his war.
Modi is also expected to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin during the summit, with whom the Indian leader shares close relations. The meeting is the first between the two leaders since the US imposed 50% tariffs on Indian imports into the US, in part as penalty for India’s purchase of Russian oil.
Modi has been performing a tricky balancing act since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, maintaining ties with both Washington and Kyiv. But India’s continued purchase of Russian oil has tested Trump’s patience.
After his arrival in Tianjin, Modi said he spoke with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call.
“We exchanged views on the ongoing conflict, its humanitarian aspect, and efforts to restore peace and stability. India extends full support to all efforts in this direction,” Modi wrote on X late Saturday.
Xi and Modi last met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia’s Kazan in October.
