China on Friday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s planned visit to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, scheduled from August 31 to September 1, expressing hopes for a gathering marked by solidarity and cooperation.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun confirmed Beijing’s readiness to host Modi, stating, “China welcomes Prime Minister Modi to China for the SCO Tianjin Summit,” reports PTI. Guo said China believes the event will reflect greater unity, coordination, and productivity, with outcomes beneficial to all member states.

This will mark Modi’s first visit to China in over seven years. His last trip was in June 2018 to attend the SCO summit. The visit comes at a time when India-China relations have shown signs of thawing following several years of tension stemming from the border standoff in eastern Ladakh.

India-China ties deteriorated sharply following the border standoff in eastern Ladakh in May 2020, with the Galwan Valley clash in June that year severely straining relations. The face-off effectively ended following completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang under an agreement finalised on October 21 last year.

Guo highlighted that leaders from more than 20 nations, including all SCO member countries and representatives from 10 international organisations, are expected to attend. “The Tianjin summit will be the largest in scale since the SCO’s formation,” he added.

Sources in Delhi indicated that Modi is likely to travel to Japan around August 29 before heading to China. However, there has been no official confirmation from New Delhi regarding the itinerary or whether a bilateral meeting between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled.

India and China have also undertaken confidence-building measures to normalise relations. New Delhi resumed tourist visas for Chinese nationals and discussions are ongoing to restart direct flight services. The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, a significant cultural and religious route for Indian pilgrims, has also been resumed.

In the past two months, several top Indian officials, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, visited China to participate in SCO-related meetings, reflecting a gradual diplomatic reset. China currently holds the presidency of the SCO.