Even without the overhang of the rift with the U.S., Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit is replete with symbolism, some awkward encounters and many significant firsts.
This is his first trip to China in seven years, the first bilateral with President Xi Jinping — not in a third country — since the Galwan clashes and the standoff at the Line of Actual Control, and his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the U.S.’s 50% tariffs, including the penalty for importing Russian oil, kicked in.
