Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China’s Tianjin, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Friday.

Both Modi and Putin will travel to China to attend the SCO Summit from August 31 to September 1.

“Right after the SCO Plus meeting (on September 1), our president will meet Indian Prime Minister Modi,” Ushakov told journalists.

It will be their first meeting this year, although they have been regularly in touch on the phone, he said.

“Our countries are bound by a special strategic partnership,” he said. “A relevant statement in this regard was passed in December 2010, which means that this year marks the 15th anniversary since then.”

“What is especially important is that preparations will be discussed for the upcoming visit of our president to India in December,” Ushakov added.