Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Visit India

• Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit India on August 18 to meet with NSA Ajit Doval.
• The visit comes ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s first trip to China since 2020 for the SCO summit.
• Both India and China are facing new, significant tariffs from the United States.

GG News Bureau
New Delhi/Beijing, 13th Aug: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit India on August 18 for talks with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The meeting, which comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first trip to China in several years for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, is taking place against the backdrop of new US tariffs on both nations.

US President Donald Trump recently imposed a 50 percent tariff on India, which includes a 25 percent “penalty” for its purchase of Russian weapons and oil. Both Washington and Beijing have also been engaged in a tit-for-tat exchange of import duties, with the US slapping a 145 percent duty on Chinese goods and China responding with a 125 percent duty on US imports.

India-China relations have shown signs of thawing, following a period of heightened military tension after clashes in Ladakh five years ago. In March, Wang Yi had called on India and China to cooperate and “take the lead in opposing hegemonism,” stating that “making the dragon and elephant dance is the only right choice.”

Days later, India acknowledged the outreach, with Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar saying the government is working to plot a “more predictable and positive course” for the relationship. China has welcomed PM Modi’s forthcoming visit to the SCO summit, which will be held from August 31 to September 1 in Tianjin. On the sidelines of the summit, Mr. Modi is likely to hold bilateral meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.