PM Modi to visit Japan for summit, China for SCO meet from Aug 29 to Sept 1

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a four-day visit of Japan and China on August 29, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Friday.

In the first leg of his trip, Modi will be in Japan on a two-day visit.

From Japan, he will travel to China, primarily to attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

The announcement of the prime minister's visit to the two Asian countries came just days after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's trip to India.

The MEA said Modi will be in Japan on August 29 and 30 to participate in the 15th India-Japan annual summit.

This will be Modi's eighth visit to Japan as the prime minister.

The ministry said Modi and his Japanese counterpart, Shigeru Ishiba, will review the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan.

It said the two prime ministers will deliberate on cooperation in the areas of defence and security, trade and economy, technology and innovation, and people-to-people exchanges, as well as discuss issues of regional and global importance.

"The visit will reaffirm the longstanding special bond of friendship between the two countries," the MEA said in a statement.

In the second leg of his visit, Modi, at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, will travel to the neighbouring country from August 31 to September 1 to attend the SCO summit to be held in the Chinese city of Tianjin on August 31 and September 1.

"On the sidelines of the summit, the prime minister is expected to hold bilateral meetings with several leaders," the MEA said.

India has been a member of the SCO since 2017. It held the presidency of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO during 2022-23.