Modi, Xi Jinping meet tomorrow

NEW DELHI, Aug 29 (Reuters): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow (Sunday), as ties between the Asian rivals thaw against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump's imposition of punitive tariffs on New Delhi.
Modi is on his first visit to China in seven years to participate in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) regional security bloc, whose members also include Russia and Iran.
Modi's visit is the first since a deadly 2020 clash between Indian and Chinese troops on their disputed Himalayan border. The neighbours share a 3,800 km (2,400 miles) border that is poorly demarcated and has been disputed since the 1950s.
At least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops are killed in hand-to-hand combat in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, northern India, in June 2020.
The same year, New Delhi heightened scrutiny of investments from China, banned popular Chinese mobile apps and severed direct passenger air routes.
Minor border scuffles between Indian and Chinese troops break out in the Tawang sector of India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which is also claimed by China as part of southern Tibet.
Modi and Xi meet in Johannesburg on the sidelines of a summit of the BRICS grouping of nations and agree to intensify efforts to disengage and de-escalate tensions.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, speaking at an event in Geneva, says about 75 per cent of the "disengagement" problems at India's border with China had been sorted out.
India's aviation minister also indicates a thaw in the standoff, writing in a post on X that the two countries had discussed early resumption of direct passenger flights on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation in Delhi.