PM Modi greets Chinese officials after landing in China on August 30, 2025, ahead of the SCO summit to be held in Beijing on August 31, 2025. Photo: X/@narendramodi

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (August 29, 2025) said it is important for India and China to work together to bring stability to the world economic order as he asserted that New Delhi is ready to advance bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity.

In an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun published during his ongoing visit to Japan, Mr. Modi also asserted that stable, predictable, and amicable bilateral relations between India and China, as two neighbours and the two largest nations on earth, can have a positive impact on regional and global peace and prosperity.

Asked about the importance of improving relations with China at this time, the Prime Minister said, “At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, I would be travelling to Tianjin from here to take part in the SCO Summit. Since my meeting with President Xi in Kazan last year, steady and positive progress has been made in our bilateral ties.”

For multi-polar world: PM

This is also crucial for a multi-polar Asia and a multi-polar world, he added. “Given the current volatility in the world economy, it is also important for India and China, as two major economies, to work together to bring stability to the world economic order,” Mr. Modi said.

India is ready to advance bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity, and to enhance strategic communication to address our developmental challenges, he said.

When asked about his views on the Japanese government’s concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific, Mr. Modi said there is a strong convergence between Japan’s vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific and India’s own approach, encapsulated in our Indo-Pacific vision, in the ‘Vision MAHASAGAR’ and the Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative.

India and Japan are committed to an Indo-Pacific that is peaceful, prosperous, stable and where the territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations are respected, the Prime Minister said.

“Both our countries have strong and extensive linkages with countries in the Indo-Pacific region, and we both engage with some of them in plurilateral formats to give expression to our shared objectives,” he said.

Stand on Ukraine conflict

Talking about his recent conversations with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, Mr. Modi said India has maintained a principled and humanitarian stance on the conflict, which is equally appreciated by both President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“In line with this, both the leaders spoke to me to share their perspectives on the developments related to the conflict. I reiterated India’s principled and consistent stand and encouraged dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the conflict. I have already indicated India’s willingness to support meaningful efforts aimed at achieving peaceful resolution of the conflict,” he told the Japanese newspaper.

“I believe, by virtue of our good relations with both sides, including key stakeholders, we can strengthen efforts dedicated to the restoration of an early and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Mr. Modi said.

Importance of Global South

Stressing the importance of the Global South, PM Modi said the global community has made a commitment to create a more equitable world through achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

“If we have to live up to this commitment, then the Global South must be given priority. In a highly interconnected world, we have seen the debilitating impact of the pandemic, conflicts and supply chain disruptions on the Global South,” the Prime Minister said.

They continue to face myriad challenges involving global governance, climate change, food and energy security, debt and financial stress, all having a significant impact on their development priorities, he said.

“As members of the Global South, we clearly understand these concerns and their effects on people’s lives. We have made strenuous efforts to bring these to the forefront of the global agenda,” he said.

”All our global initiatives, like Mission LiFE, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, International Solar Alliance, and Global Biofuels Alliance, focus on promoting the interests of the Global South. Our G20 Presidency saw the inclusion of the African Union and gave voice to the aspirations of the Global South,” Mr. Modi pointed out.

Similarly, in BRICS, India is actively engaged in working toward the benefit of the Global South, he added.

India attaches importance to its engagement with BRICS, which has emerged as a valuable forum for consultation and cooperation and has helped promote mutual understanding on a specific set of issues of common interest to emerging economies, he said.

Under the rubric of the Quad, he said they have worked for the development and progress of the countries in the Indo-Pacific.

“India has also consistently called for urgent and comprehensive reforms of the global multilateral institutions to make them more effective and reflective of the current geopolitical and economic realities,” he said.

He pointed out that in the last 20 years, since its inception in 2004, the Quad has emerged as a force of global good, delivering positive outcomes for the people of the Indo-Pacific region.

Published – August 29, 2025 10:27 pm IST

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his two-day visit to India beginning Monday (August 18, 2025), according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The meeting, to be held on Tuesday (August 19, 2025), assumes significance as it is taking place days before PM Modi’s planned trip to China to attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

​Missed opportunity: On India, the terror fight and the SCO

Before calling on the Prime Minister, Mr. Wang will hold separate talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval that could see both sides deliberate on a range of key issues, including the border situation, trade and resumption of flight services.

The Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit is largely seen as part of ongoing efforts by the two neighbours to rebuild their relationship after it came under severe strain following the deadly Galwan Valley clashes in 2020.

The two sides are expected to discuss new confidence-building measures for durable peace and tranquillity along their contested border during Mr. Wang’s visit, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday (August 17, 2025).

Mr. Wang’s trip is also seen as important as it comes amid increasing tensions in India-U.S. relations following President Donald Trump doubling tariffs on Indian goods to 50% which included an additional penalty of 25% for purchasing Russian crude oil.

According to details released by the MEA, the Chinese Foreign Minister will land in New Delhi at around 4:15 p.m. on Monday (August 18, 2025). He will meet Jaishankar for bilateral talks at around 6 p.m.

Mr. Wang and NSA Doval are scheduled to hold a new edition of Special Representatives (SR) dialogue on the boundary question at 11 a.m. on Tuesday (August 19, 2025).

According to the MEA, Mr. Wang will call on PM Modi at his 7 Lok Kalyan Marg residence at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday (August 19, 2025).

The Chinese Foreign Minister will be in India primarily to hold the 24th round of SR dialogue with NSA Doval.

Mr. Wang and Mr. Doval are the designated special representatives for the boundary talks.

Both sides are expected to deliberate on new confidence-building measures besides reviewing the overall situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the people cited above said.

Though the two sides disengaged troops from the friction points, they are yet to de-escalate the situation by pulling back the frontline forces from the border.

Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC in the eastern Ladakh region.

The Chinese Foreign Minister will also meet External Affairs Minister Jaishankar.

It is learnt that the two sides will also use the opportunity to lay the ground for Prime Minister Modi’s visit to China to attend the annual summit of the SCO to be held on August 31 and September 1.

As per the plan, the Prime Minister will embark on a visit to Japan around August 29 and after concluding the trip, he will travel to the northern Chinese city of Tianjin for the SCO summit.

PM Modi’s visit to China is being planned amid efforts by the two sides to repair their bilateral ties which came under severe strain following the deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in June 2020.

NSA Doval travelled to China in December last and held the SR talks with Mr. Wang, weeks after Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping decided to revive various dialogue mechanisms between the two sides at a meeting in the Russian city of Kazan.

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 bilateral 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.

The decision to revive various dialogue mechanisms was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi in Kazan 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 initiated a number of initiatives to rebuild the ties that included 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. The flight services between the two sides were suspended following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It was not restored in view of the border row.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar visited China in the last two months to attend SCO meetings.

China is the current chair of the SCO.

Published – August 17, 2025 09:56 pm IST

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be visiting India from August 18 to 20 to hold 24th round of talks between the Special Representatives of China and India.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russian Ambassador to India, Denis Alipov addresses the media on the recently concluded BRICS Summit in Russia, in New Delhi on October 28, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The BRICS summit in Kazan has been a “total success”, said the Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov on Monday (October 28, 2024).

In an interaction with the media, the Russian envoy said the BRICS grouping represents “current realities” and pointed out that Indian banks are “over cautious” while dealing with Russian entities because of the threat of “secondary sanctions” from Western governments. He hit out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for criticising BRICS and described him as “delusional”.

“BRICS is not an exclusive but an inclusive platform. It is not anti-West or non-West formation. BRICS has become an indispensable framework for the emerging centres of power and keeps attracting more and more countries as a result of global turbulence and uncertainties,” said Ambassador Alipov informing that “more than forty countries have expressed interest in joining” BRICS.

Ambassador Alipov supported the prospects of BRICS and criticised Mr. Zelenskyy. Last week, President Zelenksyy had rejected UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ visit to Kyiv as he had participated in the BRICS meeting in Kazan.

After meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr. Guterres had said, “We need peace in Ukraine. A just peace in line with the UN Charter, international law and General Assembly resolutions.” Mr. Zelenksy had described the Kazan summit as a “complete failure”.

During the briefing, Ambassador Alipov said, “The Ukrainian President has become completely delusional. He has very delusional views on many other accounts. But this is one of the topics on which he is absolutely wrong.”

Mr. Alipov’s briefing on the BRICS summit came days after the Kazan Declaration of the 16th BRICS summit gave out a detailed financial vision and held Israel responsible for the ongoing violence in Gaza Strip and Lebanon. He said the creation of a new category of partner-countries of BRICS is one of the major outcomes of the Kazan summit. “This step will definitely multiply the value of our diversified partnership and add to the forum’s global influence, which is now making a decisive contribution to the global food and energy security,” stated the Russian Ambassador explaining the impact of the new category of partner countries.

Ambassador Alipov presented the financial and commodities-related plans of the BRICS, and said the orgainsation plans to implement the Russian initiatives to create a grain trading platform within BRICS which will be known as the BRICS Grain Exchange. He mentioned the creation of an investment platform through strengthening the New Development Bank and study the feasibility of an electronic platform to settle cross-border trade in securities.

The envoy said that Indian banks are “over cautious” in dealing with Russia “over fears of western secondary sanctions” and said the sanctions could impact “Indian financial system’s engagement with Russia” and added, “We are hopeful, understanding among the Indian banking community will grow.”

“As like-minded countries, we will keep closely coordinating on various international issues on the UN, G20 and WTO agenda to create better conditions or the Global South to get an equal access to technological, financial and natural resources,” said Ambassador Alipov.

He touched upon the discussion between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping and said Russia was not involved in facilitating the meeting and stated, “We had border issues with the Chinese. We managed to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution. No doubt India, China will be successful in (resolving) the border problems. It would require determination, open heart approach.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping has appointed senior diplomat Xu Feihong as the new Ambassador to India after an unusually long delay of 18 months amid frozen relations between the two countries over the eastern Ladakh military standoff.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has appointed senior diplomat Xu Feihong as the new Ambassador to India after an unusually long delay of 18 months amid frozen relations between the two countries over the eastern Ladakh military standoff.

While there is no official announcement in Beijing yet, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmed to PTI that Mr. Xu, former Ambassador to Afghanistan and Romania, has been appointed as China’s new envoy in India.

Mr. Xu, 60, is expected to travel to New Delhi soon to take over his new posting.

He will succeed veteran Chinese diplomat Sun Weidong who completed his tenure in India in October 2022.

Mr. Sun, who was China’s envoy to Pakistan before his India stint, is currently the Vice Foreign Minister overseeing China’s South Asia policy.

Mr. Xu’s appointment which coincides with the ongoing Lok Sabha elections comes amid protracted military and diplomatic negotiations between Beijing and New Delhi to resolve the prolonged military standoff.

Relations between the two countries were frozen except for trade ever since the eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Tso (lake) area. The eastern Ladakh standoff has resulted in a freeze of bilateral ties.

The two sides have so far held 21 rounds of corps commanders-level talks to resolve the standoff.

According to the Chinese military, the two sides so far agreed to disengage from four points, namely the Galwan Valley, the Pangong Lake, Hot Springs, and Jianan Daban (Gogra).

India is pressing the People’s Liberation Army to disengage from the Depsang and Demchok areas, maintaining that there cannot be restoration of normalcy in its relations with China as long as the state of the borders remains abnormal.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian speaks during a press conference in Beijing.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

China on March 25 continued to claim that Arunachal Pradesh is part of its territory, notwithstanding India dismissing Beijing’s claim as “absurd” and “ludicrous”.

On March 25, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian reiterated China’s claim reacting to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s assertions on Saturday, dismissing China’s repeated claims on Arunachal Pradesh as “ludicrous” and that the frontier state was a “natural part of India”.

“This is not a new issue. I mean China has laid claim, it has expanded its claim. The claims are ludicrous to begin with and remain ludicrous today,” Mr. Jaishankar said in response to a question on the Arunachal issue after delivering a lecture at the prestigious Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) of the National University of Singapore (NUS).

“So, I think we’ve been very clear, very consistent on this. And I think you know that is something which will be part of the boundary discussions which are taking place,” he said. Mr. Lin, replying to a question from the official media seeking his reactions to Jaishankar’s comments, said the border between India and China has never been settled.

Zangnan, China’s official name for Arunachal Pradesh, was always part of China before it was “illegally occupied” by India, Lin claimed.

China has all along had an effective administration over the region, he said.

Claiming that it is an “indisputable fact”, he said India has established the “so-called Arunachal Pradesh” in 1987 on the illegally occupied territory.

“We have issued strong statements against their actions and stressed their action is ineffective and this position of China has not been changed”, Mr. Lin said.

This is the fourth time this month China spoke about its claim over Arunachal Pradesh.

Beijing said it has lodged a diplomatic protest with India over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh on March 9 reiterating its claim over the area.

China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, routinely objects to the Indian leaders’ visits to the state to highlight its claims. Beijing has also named the area as Zangnan.

China’s Defence Minister has also claimed that Arunachal Pradesh was part of Chinese territory, a claim dismissed by the Ministry of External Affairs last week.