As Trump threatens BRICS nations over Russian oil, PM Modi to visit China for SCO Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit from August 31 to September 1. Modi's upcoming visit marks his first trip to Beijing since 2019.  

His visit also comes at a time when US President Donald Trump targeted the BRICS countries for buying Russian oil and for what Trump claims is a grouping that challenges the hegemony of the US dollar. 

The visit comes more than a month after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the Defence Ministers' meeting of the SCO in Qingdao. After this meeting, Singh refused to sign a document that would've diluted India's stance on terrorism and the Pahalgam attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people. 

As per sources, China and its "all-weather friend" Pakistan tried to divert attention from terrorism by skipping any mention of the Pahalgam incident in the SCO document. Instead, the document mentioned Balochistan in a veiled attempt to accuse India of creating unrest in the Pakistani province. 

Moreover, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of a delegation of foreign ministers attending the meeting of the SCO. 

"Apprised President Xi of the recent development of our bilateral ties,” Jaishankar said in a post on X. Before this, he met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and spoke on the need for a far-seeking approach to bilateral ties. 

Jaishankar told his Chinese counterpart the neighbours have made 'good progress' over the last 9 months in normalising relations. He also said that India and China should now consider de-escalation of the situation along the LAC after making 'good progress' in normalising the ties between the two countries in the past 9 months. 

This will also be PM Modi's first visit to China since the two nations' ties were severely strained due to the 2020 military standoff in Galwan along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. The Galwan Valley clash was the worst border clash in the last 40 years, resulting in the death of soldiers on both sides.