Modi expected to hold talks with Chinese President tomorrow

Monitoring Desk

BEIJING: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, as ties between the Asian rivals thaw against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s imposition of punitive tariffs on New Delhi.

Modi is on his first visit to China in seven years to participate in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) regional security bloc, whose members also include Russia and Iran.

Modi’s visit is the first since a deadly 2020 clash between Indian and Chinese troops on their disputed Himalayan border. The neighbours share a 3,800 km (2,400 miles) border that is poorly demarcated and has been disputed since the 1950s.

India’s aviation minister also indicates a thaw in the standoff, writing in a post on X that the two countries had discussed early resumption of direct passenger flights on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation in Delhi.