Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will arrive in India on August 18 for consultations with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
The visit precedes the prime minister's own visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit by just a matter of days, the first since the Ladakh border clashes five years ago spiked military tensions between the two nations.
Wang Yi’s visit also occurs amid escalating US tariffs targeting both China and India. President Donald Trump has imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian imports, which includes a 25 per cent “penalty” for purchases of Russian weapons and oil.
The last meeting between Wang Yi and Doval took place in June, during an earlier session of the SCO, a regional security bloc.
India-China ties have registered tentative upturn after the tariff pressures from America. The US and China were earlier this year locked in a tit-for-tat tariff war, with Washington slapping a 145 per cent duty on Chinese products and Beijing countering with a 125 per cent duty on US imports.
Earlier in March, when US tariffs on China were also at 20 per cent, Wang Yi had called upon India and China to join hands and "take the lead in opposing hegemonism and power politics.
Speaking after a National People's Congress meet, he said "making the dragon and elephant dance is the only right choice... supporting, instead of wearing each other down, and strengthening cooperation, instead of staying on guard, is in our fundamental interests."
He also pointed to "positive strides" in the India-China relationship over the past year, referring to military disengagement in Ladakh's Depsang and Demchok after the 2020 clashes.
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said the government is working to plot "a more predictable and positive course" for the relationship, measures for which would include resumption of pilgrimages to sites under China's control, direct flights, and exchange of journalists.
China has, meanwhile, welcomed Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming visit, signaling a tentative move toward closer ties with India. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun highlighted that the SCO summit, scheduled for August 31 and September 1 in Tianjin, will be the largest ever.
On the summit fringes, Modi is likely to have bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as India makes attempts to broker an end to the conflict in Ukraine, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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