A defining test looms for India

SEVEN YEARS have passed since Narendra Modi last set foot in China. The clock resets on August 31st, when India’s prime minister turns up in Tianjin, a port city about two hours from Beijing. Mr Modi will attend a meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO), a Eurasian security outfit whose members include Russia and Iran; there he is expected to meet Xi Jinping, China’s president. The trip is a striking example of the improving ties between India and China, which entered a deep freeze in 2020 following a border clash. But Mr Modi’s mind will also be on his country’s bust-up with America and how India should respond.