The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)’s 25th summit officially commenced with a grand banquet hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping in China, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among other leaders. Jinping, along with his wife Peng Liyuan, hosted the banquet to welcome international guests in Tianjin, a port city of China.
This year’s summit is the largest gathering of the 10-member group as China invited 20 foreign leaders and heads of 10 international organizations, including United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The summit meeting will be held in a specially designated conference center, where the leaders of the 10-member group, along with the invited leaders, will address the gathering.
PM Modi’s speech is keenly anticipated, especially in light of his meeting with Xi Jinping on Saturday and the backdrop of new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on various countries. It is believed that this meeting will create a new framework for relations. In addition, a joint statement will also be issued. PM Modi will meet with Putin on the sidelines of the SCO summit.
In his address at the welcome banquet, Jinping said that the SCO has a major responsibility to protect regional peace and stability and to promote the development of various countries in a world of increasing uncertainties and rapid changes.
He expressed confidence that with the combined efforts of all parties, the summit would be completely successful and that the SCO would definitely play an even bigger role. It will contribute more to promoting unity and cooperation among member countries, uniting the strength of the Global South, and promoting further progress of human civilization. The Global South refers to the group of economically weaker countries.
India believes that peace and harmony on the border is like an insurance policy for India-China relations, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made this absolutely clear to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra revealed that PM Modi held extensive discussions with Chinese President Jinping on Sunday, focusing on restoring bilateral relations.
During the meeting, in response to Jinping’s comment that the border issue should not define the overall China-India relations, Kwatra stated that India has consistently maintained that peace and harmony on the border are essential for the overall development of relations. He emphasized that the situation on the border would inevitably impact bilateral relations.
He further stated that maintaining peace and harmony on the border is the most important ‘insurance policy’ for bilateral relations. During the Modi-Jinping talks, the border issue was discussed, and both leaders talked about the successful withdrawal of troops last year and the subsequent maintenance of peace and harmony in the border areas.
Emphasizing certain principles related to this issue, PM Modi stressed the need for peace and harmony in the border areas for the continuous and smooth development of bilateral relations. He agreed on the need to maintain peace on the borders using existing mechanisms and to avoid disruptions in relations in the future.
