PM Modi To Visit Japan For 15th Annual Summit With PM Shigeru Ishiba Before Attending SCO Meet In China

New Delhi: Prime Minister Modi will be visiting Japan and will then move on to China for the SCO summit, MEA officials confirmed on Tuesday. Modi, who is visiting Japan at the invitation of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, will visit from August 29-30, where he will participate in the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit.

From Japan, the prime minister will travel to Tianjin from August 31 to September 1 for the SCO summit at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Speaking about the Japan visit, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “The annual summit between India and Japan is the highest-level dialogue mechanism between the two countries. It drives the agenda of the special strategic and global partnership.”

“The summit will allow both sides to do an in-depth review of these ties, take stock of progress, and discuss regional and global affairs of importance,” Misri said.

He added that the prime minister’s “visit to Japan will consolidate our friendship and Open fresh avenues for cooperation.”

After Japan, the prime minister moves on to China, a country that he has not visited for the last seven years. He is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with President Xi at Tianjin for which officials say the details are still being worked out. Modi’s visit comes on the eve of US tariffs hitting Indian goods by 50%. The tariffs will come in by Wednesday. While not confirming the prime minister’s meeting with President Xi, Misri said. “There will be a number of bilateral meetings that will be organised on the sidelines. We are still working through the finalisation of these meetings and will keep you updated.”

On the SCO itself, Secretary (West) Tanmaya Lal said India is working with other SCO members and partners to ensure strong condemnation of terrorism at the summit. “The SCO was established with the primary goal of countering the three evils of terrorism, separatism, and extremism, which continue to remain a challenge,” he said, noting that India has actively engaged with the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).

Speaking about the joint declaration that is likely to be adopted at the SCO summit, Lall said that was still to be finalised. “We are working with other members and partners to see that there should be a reiteration of the strong condemnation of terrorism, including cross-border terrorism,” he said. “The security of the region remains a priority for the SCO members.”

Cross-border terrorism will be a key issue for India in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor in May. However, it remains to be seen what the outcome will be. In June, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh refused to sign the joint declaration at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers’ meeting in Qingdao, as it did not mention the Pahalgam terror attack and address India’s concerns over Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism.

“On our side, India wanted concerns on terrorism reflected in the document, which was not acceptable to one particular country, and therefore the statement was not adopted,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said at the weekly media briefing.