‘Steady Progress Guided by Respect’: PM Modi Meets China’s Wang Yi, Confirms SCO Summit Visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in New Delhi on Tuesday, capping a series of high-level engagements aimed at stabilizing and strengthening the relationship between the two Asian giants. During the meeting at his residence, the Prime Minister highlighted the “steady progress” in bilateral ties and formally accepted President Xi Jinping’s invitation to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin later this month.

“Glad to meet Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Since my meeting with President Xi in Kazan last year, India-China relations have made steady progress guided by respect for each other’s interests and sensitivities,” the Prime Minister stated in a post after the meeting. He stressed that peace and tranquility along the border are essential for the relationship and that “stable, predictable, constructive ties between India and China will contribute significantly to regional as well as global peace and prosperity.”

Earlier in the day, Wang Yi held crucial talks with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval under the Special Representatives (SR) mechanism. Doval noted a distinct “upward trend” in India-China relations over the past nine months, highlighting that the borders have been quiet.

“There has been peace and tranquillity, and our bilateral engagements have become more substantial,” he said, formally announcing the Prime Minister’s visit to China for the SCO Summit on August 31 and September 1. In his remarks, Wang Yi said both sides should “increase mutual trust through strategic communication” and properly resolve specific border issues, adding that the relationship is facing an “important opportunity for improvement and growth.”

This positive engagement marks a significant thaw in a relationship that was severely strained by the 2020 Galwan Valley clash. The momentum for de-escalation began after a pivotal meeting between PM Modi and President Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan in October 2024.

Since then, both nations have undertaken confidence-building measures, including troop disengagement from several friction points and the revival of people-to-people exchanges like the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage. The Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit is also seen as particularly significant as it comes at a time of increasing trade tensions between India and the United States, following President Donald Trump’s imposition of steep tariffs on Indian goods.