PM Modi’s Key Huddles With Xi Jinping, Putin In China Amid Trump’s Tariffs

28th August 2025 at 2:37 PM

1 minute read

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping on August 31, and Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 1, in Tianjin, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. The United States recently imposed steep tariff hikes on a range of Indian goods, including steel, textiles and farm products, with duties raised in some cases to as high as 50 per cent.

While India has threatened retaliatory tariffs and initiated consultations with the World Trade Organisation (WTO), businesses report disruptions in supply chains and export volumes. In contrast, ties with Beijing, though still fragile, have shown signs of cautious improvement after years of confrontation. Relations between India and China nosedived following the deadly Galwan Valley clashes in June 2020, but a series of military and diplomatic dialogues have led to mutual withdrawal from key friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

This will be PM Modi’s first visit to China in over seven years, when he met Xi in Wuhan for an informal summit in 2018. The meeting with Putin is equally significant. Russia, facing Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, has sought to reinforce its traditional partnership with India while simultaneously deepening its strategic embrace with China.

The SCO summit in Tianjin will bring together over 20 leaders from Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. For China, the gathering is a chance to showcase its leadership of the Global South and offer diplomatic cover for Russia.