Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to make a trip to China later this month, his security chief confirmed Tuesday during talks with Beijing's foreign minister in New Delhi.
Modi will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit opening on Aug. 31 in Tianjin, his first visit to China since 2018, Ajit Doval said, in public comments at the start of a meeting with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi.
"Our prime minister will be visiting for the SCO summit," Doval said, speaking of "new energy" in diplomatic ties.
Yi said that ties with India are "demonstrating a positive trend" in returning to the "path of cooperation."
China "attaches great importance" to Modi's visit to the SCO summit, he added.
"History and reality prove once again that a healthy and stable China-India relationship serves the fundamental and long-term interests of both of our countries," Wang added.
Wang is due to meet Modi later on Tuesday.
He is on his first trip to India since 2022 after ties between the Himalayan neighbors spiraled down in 2019, leading to border clashes in the Ladakh region of disputed Jammu and Kashmir in May 2020, which left 24 rival soldiers dead.
The trip also comes as the U.S.-India strategic ties have witnessed strain under Trump's second term, as Washington has punished New Delhi with staggering 50% tariffs, accusing the world's most populous country of "unfair trade" and "funding" Russia's "war machine" as conflict in Ukraine continues.
New Delhi has pushed back on tariffs, calling them "unjust and unfair."
Earlier Monday, in a meeting with Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's foreign minister, Wang said the two countries should "view each other as partners and opportunities, rather than adversaries or threats."
Jaishankar, on the other hand, said: "Confident that our discussions ... would contribute to building a stable, cooperative and forward-looking relationship between India and China."
Acknowledging "difficult period" in bilateral ties, Jaishankar, however, said the "two nations now seek to move ahead."
While Jaishankar insisted differences should not become disputes between the two, Wang sought mutual respect and trust as well as peaceful coexistence.
