With Trump looming, Modi and Xi weigh reset in high-stakes Tianjin diplomacy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping today near Beijing, marking a key moment in efforts to stabilise India-China ties after five years of military standoff in eastern Ladakh.

Set to take place around noon local time in Tianjin, 120 km from the Chinese capital, the 40-minute meeting will precede the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and is seen by both sides as a signal of intent to reset bilateral relations.

The last time Modi and Xi met was in October 2024 at the BRICS summit in Kazan. Since then, quiet diplomatic and military backchannel efforts have advanced, including troop disengagements and the resumption of limited travel exchanges.

The two leaders are expected to endorse a calendar of events marking 75 years of diplomatic relations — final preparations were underway Saturday.

India has framed the meeting as a routine engagement on the sidelines of a multilateral summit, but regional dynamics have raised its stakes. Tensions with Washington — fuelled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s new 50% tariffs on Indian goods and criticism over Delhi’s continued import of Russian oil — have complicated India’s foreign policy positioning.

The Prime Minister arrived in Tianjin from Japan, his first visit to China in seven years. 

In a post on X, Modi said he looked forward to the SCO deliberations and meetings with world leaders.

Delhi views recent Chinese military statements as a constructive gesture. Following the August 19 Doval-Wang talks in Delhi, the two sides reached a 10-point consensus and agreed to activate border management mechanisms. 

Among the outcomes: a new expert group under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) to pursue boundary delimitation.

The Modi-Xi talks may reaffirm border-related mechanisms and could yield progress on trade and investment. However, the long-standing troop presence along the Line of Actual Control — with an estimated 50,000–60,000 troops on each side — remains unresolved.