'India ready': PM Modi on improving ties with China; 'crucial for multi-polar world'

NEW DELHI: India is ready to advance bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective based on mutual respect, mutual interest, and mutual sensitivity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.

PM Modi, who is in Japan for a two-day visit, will be traveling to China's Tianjin to take part in the SCO Summit. The China visit comes days after foreign minister Wang Yi visited India.



In an interview with the Japan News, PM Modi said that the stable, predictable, and amicable bilateral relations between India and China can have a positive impact on regional and global peace and prosperity.


Follow live updates on PM Modi's visit to Japan, China
When asked about the importance of improving relations with China, PM Modi said, "At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, I would be traveling to Tianjin from here to take part in the SCO Summit. Since my meeting with President Xi in Kazan last year, steady and positive progress has been made in our bilateral ties. Stable, predictable, and amicable bilateral relations between India and China, as two neighbours and the two largest nations on earth, can have a positive impact on regional and global peace and prosperity. This is also crucial for a multi-polar Asia and a multi-polar world."



He also said that looking at the current volatility in world economy, it is also important for India and China, as two major economies, to work together to bring stability to the world economic order.

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"India is ready to advance bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity, and to enhance strategic communication to address our developmental challenges," he added.

PM Modi will arrive in Tianjin on Saturday evening, where he will kick off his official engagements in China on Sunday morning with a formal meeting with Xi. The meeting is expected to last for 40 minutes. The main SCO meeting is on Monday.

The SCO Summit will mark PM Modi’s first visit to China in over seven years as both countries continue efforts to ease tensions following deadly border clashes in 2020. PM Modi last shared the stage with Xi and Putin during the Brics summit in Kazan, Russia, even as Western leaders distanced themselves from the Russian president over the war in Ukraine.

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