New Delhi — Chinese president Xi Jinping and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi met on Saturday ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, pledging to ease years of friction and build a more cooperative relationship between Asia’s two most populous nations.
The meeting, held in the northern port city of Tianjin, came against the backdrop of years of hostility following deadly border clashes in 2020. Both leaders framed the talks as a turning point, emphasizing that their countries should be seen as “partners, not rivals.” Modi underscored the importance of a peaceful border for regional prosperity, while Xi echoed the sentiment, calling for disagreements not to define the broader relationship.
India has been recalibrating its foreign policy in recent months, seeking greater autonomy in global affairs while balancing its ties with both Washington and Moscow. Modi pointedly stressed the need for “strategic independence,” a signal that India intends to chart its own course even as the United States attempts to pull New Delhi closer into its orbit to counterbalance Beijing’s rise.
For Beijing, the summit offered an opportunity to soften tensions with India while reinforcing its leadership role within the SCO, which has expanded in influence as a counterweight to Western alliances. Economic cooperation featured prominently in the discussions, with Beijing signaling an openness to expand India’s access to rare-earth materials, resources critical for advanced technologies, and the broader contest over global supply chains.
The SCO summit itself, the largest in the organization’s history, is a showcase of shifting global alignments. Leaders from Russia, Iran, and Central Asia joined Xi and Modi, presenting a tableau of multipolar solidarity that challenges Washington’s long-standing dominance in international politics.
Analysts say the optics of Modi sitting alongside Xi, Russian president Vladimir Putin, and Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian mark a striking evolution in the bloc’s role. The SCO, once dismissed as a regional forum with limited impact, is increasingly positioned as a platform for nations seeking to reduce dependence on Western institutions.
According to the Associated Press, both leaders reaffirmed their intention to prevent border tensions from spiraling again, while signaling that China and India will continue to prioritize cooperation over confrontation in the years ahead. The AP noted that this meeting highlights the SCO’s growing role as a platform for countries aligning themselves with a multipolar vision of world order.
