New Delhi, 26 August

India on Tuesday said it expects the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to strongly condemn cross-border terrorism at its annual summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin next week, comments that came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China.

Modi will begin a four-day visit to Japan and China from 29 August to 1 September.

In the first leg of his trip, he will travel to Tokyo to hold the annual India-Japan summit with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The two prime ministers will also meet outside Tokyo as well.

After concluding his trip to Japan, Modi will visit Tianjin to participate in the SCO summit on 31 August and 1 September.

At a joint media briefing with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Secretary (West) in the external affairs ministry, Tanmaya Lal, said New Delhi is working with other SCO member nations and partners to ensure strong condemnation of terrorism in the summit declaration.

"The SCO was established with the primary goal of countering three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism, which continue to remain a challenge," he said.

Lal said the security of the region remains a priority for the SCO members and recalled a joint statement on countering radicalisation, extremism and terrorism that was adopted during India's presidency of the grouping in 2023.

"In the past, there have been strong condemnations of terrorism, including cross-border terrorism, in the statements that have been finalised, including the joint statement that I referred to, which was finalised during our presidency of the summit," he said.

"As far as the declaration at this (upcoming) summit is concerned, that is under finalisation -- the text. We are working with other members and partners to see that there should be a reiteration of the strong condemnation of terrorism, including cross-border terrorism. But the text is under finalisation," he said.

Lal's comments came in response to a question on how the SCO will deal with the threat of terrorism.

India launched Operation Sindoor on 7 May, targeting terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in response to thePahalgam terror attack. The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended on 10 May.

Modi is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President XiJinping on the margins of the SCO summit.

To a question on whether the prime minister will hold a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Misri said Modi's engagements are still being finalised.

On Modi's visit to Japan on 29 and 30 Aug, he said it will open fresh avenues of cooperation, and reaffirm the shared commitment to peace, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

It will be Modi's first standalone visit to Japan in nearly seven years.

"One of the features of the annual summit between India and Japan is an engagement between the two leaders outside the capital and on this occasion as well, the programme includes a visit outside Tokyo, which is again going to be something to look forward to for the two leaders," Misri said.

The foreign secretary said Modi's Japan visit will be fully dedicated to the bilateral agenda.

It will be Modi's eighth visit to Japan since he took office in 2014.

"India and Japan are two countries that share values, trust and strategic outlook on several issues. They are two of Asia's leading democracies and amongst the top five world economies," Misri said.

The foreign secretary said India-Japan relations have expanded steadily in scope and ambition over the last decade.

The summit will give both the prime ministers the opportunity to do an in-depth review of these ties, take stock of progress in the last few years across multiple domains, and of course, as is usual, exchange views on regional and global issues of importance, he said.

"This will also be an opportunity to launch several new initiatives in order to build greater resilience in the relationship, and to respond to emerging opportunities and challenges," Misri said.