Tokyo : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday embarked on his China visit to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, which begins on Sunday, following a successful two-day visit to Japan.

The SCO summit is being held in China from August 31-September 1. This will be PM Modi’s first visit to China in the last seven years and the first since the Galwan Valley faceoff between the soldiers of the two countries at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in June 2020.

Earlier, before heading out for his two-nation visit, PM Modi, in his departure statement, had said, “I will travel to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Tianjin, at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. India is an active and constructive member of the SCO. During our Presidency, we have introduced new ideas and initiated collaboration in the fields of innovation, health and cultural exchanges.”

He said that India “remains committed to working with the SCO members to address shared challenges and deepen regional cooperation.”

“I also look forward to meeting President Xi Jinping, President Putin and other leaders on the sidelines of the Summit,” PM Modi stated.

Both leaders had held a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Russia’s Kazan in 2024. The breakthrough in bilateral talks was made possible after India and China reached an agreement on patrolling along the nearly 3,500-km LAC to end the four-year-long border confrontation.

The SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation established in Shanghai on June 15, 2001. The SCO member states are: China, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Belarus.

The SCO has two observer states – Afghanistan and Mongolia and 14 dialogue partners, including Turkey, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, and Nepal. Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, the Maldives, Myanmar and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, in Japan, PM Modi held a series of high-level meetings with the Southeast Asian nation’s leadership and also attended the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit.

He met the governors of Japan’s 16 prefectures, highlighting the potential of collaboration between Japanese prefectures and Indian states by leveraging new initiatives and forging partnerships. He also called for them to participate in “India’s growth story.”

Earlier in the day, PM Modi arrived in Sendai in Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture, where he travelled aboard the iconic Shinkansen (bullet train) alongside Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba.

In Sendai, the two leaders visited Tokyo Electron Miyagi Ltd (TEL Miyagi), a leading Japanese company in the semiconductor sector.

“I visited Prime Minister Ishiba and Tokyo Electron’s factory. I inspected the training room and the Production Innovation Lab, and also exchanged opinions with the company’s executives,” PM Modi shared in a post on X.

“Semiconductors are important field in India-Japan cooperation. In recent years, India has made significant progress in this field, and many young people are now getting involved. I hope to continue this momentum in the future as well,” he added.