Chinese President Xi to visit Kazakhstan in first foreign trip since Covid

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Kazakhstan on September 14, his first tour abroad in over two and half years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and may attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit scheduled to be held in neighbouring Uzbekistan the next day.

At the invitation of Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Republic of Kazakhstan is planned for September 14 this year, Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov told a media briefing.

During the visit, the two countries planned to sign a number of cooperation agreements, Russian news agency Sputnik quoted him as saying.

There is no confirmation in Beijing about Xi's plans to fly out of China for the first time since January 2020.

Myanmar was the last country Xi visited on January 17-18, 2020. Just days after his return, China announced the massive outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, which later spiralled into a massive global pandemic resulting in millions of deaths and misery around the world.

Since then Xi, 69, has not ventured out of China and has attended global events virtually.

The first hint of his visit abroad came recently from Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who during his July 25 visit met Xi to officially invite him to attend the G20 summit to be held in Bali in November.

Widodo later said Xi accepted the invitation but the Chinese Foreign Ministry maintained steady silence on it, keeping with its policy of disclosing the official visit of the leaders only close to the dates.

Xi's participation in the G20 summit appeared plausible as it takes place on November 15-16 this year after the October 16 congress of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) which is widely expected to endorse a record third term for the Chinese leader. Xi is due to complete his 10-year term this year.

All Xi's predecessors retired after the 10-year tenure but the Chinese leader, heading the party, the military and the Presidency is expected to continue in power for life as he is conferred the core leader status of the Communist Party of China like party founder Mao Zedong.

There were doubts whether he would attend the SCO summit to be held on September 15-16 as it takes place ahead of the CPC congress.

Diplomatic sources say Xi's visit to Kazakhstan opens up the possibility of him attending the eight-nation SCO summit in Samarkand in Uzbekistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who are also invited to take part in the summit, have not officially confirmed their participation in person.

SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming told the media here in July that all the eight leaders confirmed their participation in the summit but it was not clear whether the meeting will be in person or through video link.

As per the schedule of the summit, leaders gather on September 15 and take part in the summit meeting the next day.

The Beijing-headquartered SCO is an eight-member economic and security bloc consisting of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

After the Samarkand summit, India will take over the Presidency of the influential grouping of Central Asian Republics.

If Modi and Xi attend the summit, it will be the first time they may come face to face after their meeting at Brasilia on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) in 2019.

Since then relations between the two sides soured over the incursion by Chinese troops in Eastern Ladakh in May 2020, leading to a prolonged military standoff that is still continuing.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process last year on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area.

So far, the two sides held 16 rounds of commanders-level talks to resolve the standoff.

If Putin attends the summit, it could also provide an opportunity for his in-person meeting with Xi after Russia launched the war against Ukraine in February this year.