(File photo)

BEIJING/NEW DELHI: China said "good friends" Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping will hold a "very important" meeting on sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation while emphasising the US pressure on tariffs that Beijing says affects both Asian countries.

"Whether they will talk about trade fictions between China and US and the spectre of trade frictions between the US and India, such things are not surprising. I believe this could become an important topic in his (Xi's) bilateral meetings with related leaders," Chinese vice foreign minister Zhang Hanhui said at a briefing on Monday.

Zhang described Modi and Xi as "good friends" while referring the scheduled meeting in Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek where the SCO deliberations will be held on June 13 and 14. The trade war with US is high on China's agenda which has been severely hit by the hikes in tariffs and is seeking allies on the issue.

"Trade protectionism and unilateralism are very much on the rise. How to respond to the bullying practices of the US, its practice of trade protectionism this is an important question not only to China, but also has direct bearing on the recovery of global economy," Zhang said .

In New Delhi, the ministry of external affairs confirmed the bilateral meetings with Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Without naming any country, India said it will look to put forward its concerns on terrorism at the SCO summit. The government said it is happy to be associated with SCO's Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) of which Pakistan is also a member.

While Pakistan PM Imran Khan will also be present at the summit, there's no meeting planned with him yet, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar reiterated. The MEA also did not directly respond to a question whether Iran has sought a meeting, saying there were several requests .

"We will of course take up the issue of terrorism as we feel strongly about it but without naming any country," said MEA's secretary (west) Gitesh Sarma, adding that India will seek strong and decisive action against terrorism.

The leaders participating at the summit in Kyrgyzstan are expected to focus on the global security situation, multilateral economic cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and also on topical issues of international and regional importance, he said at a media briefing.

Sarma said India is expected to raise the issue of terrorism at the summit but will not talk about any specific country. "SCO meetings are free and frank. One can expect participating leaders to highlight concerns uppermost in their mind.

Multilateral economic engagement and current global scenario will be uppermost in their mindsIt is up to the leaders of the different countries to highlight aspects important to them," said Sarma. The official said there may be discussions on situation in Afghanistan at the summit.

