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.