SCO Summit: PM Modi, China President Xi shake hands, hold talks on sidelines in Bishkek
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "SCO Summit: PM Modi, China President Xi shake hands, hold talks on sidelines in Bishkek")
World leaders during the SCO Summit Photograph: (X (@narendramodi))
The moment comes as New Delhi and Beijing pursue a cautious reset after the 2020 border clashes in eastern Ladakh. Both sides have completed several rounds of disengagement at friction points along the Line of Actual Control
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged a brief handshake and conversation on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The two leaders are attending the 26th SCO gathering that marks 25 years of the grouping. While no bilateral was scheduled, an informal interaction nevertheless took place amid group events, photographs and multilateral sessions at the summit hosted by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.
The moment comes as New Delhi and Beijing pursue a cautious reset after the 2020 border clashes in eastern Ladakh. Both sides have completed several rounds of disengagement at friction points along the Line of Actual Control and revived the Special Representatives mechanism on the boundary question. High-level contacts have increased, though the overall relationship is still shaped by the military standoff and a large trade imbalance in China’s favour.
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PM Modi arrived in Bishkek after visiting Uzbekistan. He held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he shared a warm hug, and met other leaders including Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian. Xi arrived a day earlier and held separate discussions with Putin. The three leaders last appeared together at the 2025 SCO summit in Tianjin, China, where they were photographed in a brief huddle.
The Bishkek encounter carries extra weight because India will host the BRICS summit in New Delhi on 12-13 September. Xi is expected to attend, in what would be his first visit to India in several years.
China remains India’s largest trading partner in goods, and both countries sit in overlapping forums such as BRICS, SCO and the G20. At the same time, New Delhi continues to deepen ties with the United States, Japan and Australia through the Quad, and has been vocal about terrorism and respect for sovereignty.
