Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, talking with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2016. Photo: AP/Manish Swarup.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Friday that his country welcomes Prime Minister Modi to China for the SCO Tianjin Summit.
China has confirmed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin later this month.
Modi’s visit to Tianjin comes amid a “reset in progress in India-China relations,” Ambassador Rajiv Bhatia, distinguished fellow for Foreign Policy Studies, Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, told Sputnik.
Bhatia noted that the visit’s likely agenda “will no doubt cover all relevant global, regional and bilateral issues.”
“As next door neighbors, India and China need to address their divergences and expand their convergences in the interest of the region, Asia, and the world,” Bhatia pointed out.
When asked about the US threatening India over the latter’s purchase of Russian oil, the analyst underscored that strategic autonomy and independence of thinking and policy-making remain “part of India’s DNA.”
17th BRICS Summit Calls to Strengthen Global South and Cooperation
Bhatia highlighted that India places strong importance on advancing an agenda that safeguards the interests of the Global South.
The pundit also stressed that the ongoing shift toward genuine multipolarity creates space for nations like Russia, India, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, South Africa, and Indonesia, and represents a democratic, equitable, and balanced advancement that the international community should embrace.