PM Modi likely to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in first visit to China after Galwan clash: Reports

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, which is to be held on August 31 and September 1, according to multiple reports. This would be the PM’s first visit to China since the melee and multiple skirmishes in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh in 2020. Reports suggest that the PM will first visit Japan on August 30 and will then attend the SCO Summit.

The development comes at a time when India and China have been proactively working towards a détente in their bilateral relationship. The cessation of hostilities has resulted in some positive steps taken by both nations. China, on its part, has resumed the pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar. India, on the other hand, has resumed granting tourist visas to Chinese nationals.

The two countries also announced that they will disengage troops in Depsang and Demchok, which were the flashpoints where the armies of both nations clashed in 2020. This followed PM Modi’s meeting with Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. 

However, not all seems encouraging in the ongoing reconclliation efforts. In the SCO ministerial summit, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh refused to sign a joint statement, for it did not condemn the dastardly attacks in Pahalgam. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, on the other hand, has said that the SCO was founded in 2001 to combat the three extremes of “terrorism, separatism and extremism”, and exhorted the SCO to take the "uncompromising position on this challenge”.

Jaishankar visited China in July, where he met President Xi Jinping in Beijing and reportedly apprised him of the “recent developments” between the two countries to mend diplomatic relations. However, the PM’s supposed visit also comes at a time when China has maintained its stranglehold on the supply of rare earth elements. 

This has particularly hit the automotive sector hard. Bajaj Auto said on the sidelines of its first-quarter results on Wednesday that half of its electric two-wheeler output will be hit due to the ongoing rare earth magnet crisis, even as the automaker looks at redesigning motors and alternate sources of supply. India imports roughly ₹300 crore of rare earth magnets from China annually.

India is mending ties with China as it continues to protect its national interests as it works towards a trade deal with the U.S. Despite five rounds of negotiations between India and the U.S., President Donald Trump said that it is imposing a 25% tariff on Indian imports, along with an unspecified penalty for importing oil from Russia. The bilateral trade between the two countries is roughly $190 billion. 

On Tuesday, Trump issued a fresh salvo to India, saying that he will be raising tariffs on Indian goods “substantially,” although he did not specify the exact amount. His comments came close on the heels of the Indian government issuing a strong rejoinder against Trump’s threats, repudiating that the U.S. is unfairly targeting India when imports by the U.S. and the EU were much higher than India’s.