By: Simran Sodhi, Guest Author, GSDN
The world of geo-politics is undergoing some serious changes, as United States President Donald Trump changes policies, one tweet at a time. One of the biggest changes has been that in the India-US ties. While this relationship grew under Trump 1.0 and then under President Joe Biden, the second term of Trump has seen this relationship nose dive. An interesting outcome of this has been that as India-US ties plummet, India has started to look at Russia and China anew. India’s ties with Russia have always stayed warm, despite the American embrace. With China, and the tensions on the border, it is actually the India-China ties that were in a freeze for many years.
Add to this the fact that the Quad (a grouping of four comprising of India, US, Japan and Australia) was seen as an anti-China forum where both the US and India stood together. But even the significance of the Quad is now in question as is the entire Indo-Pacific strategy of the US where India was seen as a counter to a rising China.
India seems to have made a conscious decision to make an outreach to China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to China to attend the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) on Aug 31-Sept 01, 2025 is a clear indicator of that shift. India recently had the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visit India and the stage now seems all set for Modi’s China visit. Wang’s Delhi visited yielded positive outcomes going by his comments and the readouts.
He was in Delhi at the invitation of NSA (National Security Advisor) Ajit Doval for the 24th Special Representatives talk on the boundary question. During his visit he also met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar for bilateral talks. Wang was also received by Modi who said that he would travel to Tianjin for the SCO meeting. Modi is scheduled to meet with the Chinese President Xi Jinping during the SCO Summit. Also, during Wang’s visit, India and China agreed to resume border trade at three points, restart direct flights, expand the Kailash Manasarovar yatra slots for pilgrims and relax visas.
“The setbacks we experienced in the past few years were not in the interest of the people of our two countries, and in October last year, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi held an important meeting in Kazan. That meeting pointed the direction for the development of our bilateral relations and provided impetus for the proper settlement of the boundary question,” said Wang in his remarks during the visit, setting a positive tone to the bilateral ties. Later in the evening, Wang called on Modi, where Modi said, “India-China relations have made steady progress guided by respect for each other’s interests and sensitivities.”
Wang also referred to the SCO Heads of State Council meeting in Tianjin and said, “Now the bilateral relationship is facing an important opportunity for improvement and growth. The Chinese side attaches great importance to the Prime Minister’s visit to China to attend the SCO summit at our invitation. We believe the Indian side will also make a contribution to a successful summit in Tianjin. History and reality proved once again that a healthy and stable China-India relationship serves the fundamental long-term interests of both of our countries. It is also what the developing countries all wanted to see.”
These remarks by both the Indian and Chinese side clearly indicate that both are now willing to shed the past animosities and make an outreach to the other. It would be wrong to assume that this implies that contentious issues like the border one is not that significant anymore. Rather, this is a simple calculation where the US bullying of India has led it to re-calibrate its ties with China. And that should worry the US.
Another important development that is taking place is the increased emphasis on the trilateral cooperation between India-China and Russia. India’s foreign minister recently travelled to Russia and during the SCO Summit, the leaders of India, China and Russia will be meeting together. Despite the punishing tariffs being slapped on India by the US for buying Russian oil, India has maintained that it will continue to follow policies that are in its national interests.
Speaking at an event recently, Foreign Minister Jaishankar said, “If you have a problem buying oil or refined products from Russia, don’t buy. But Europe buys, America buys. If you don’t like, don’t buy from us.” His comments clearly underscore the point that India would not bow to pressure from Western nations.
With all this in the background, the SCO Summit then assumes great significance. It will see the Indian and Chinese leader meet as both reach out to the other; and the presence of the Russian leader will add in another significant dimension. The outcomes of the SCO Summit and the meetings between Narendra Modi, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will likely decide the next chapter in global politics.
About the Author
Simran Sodhi is a Delhi-based journalist and foreign affairs analyst. She holds a Masters in International Relations from the American University in Washington DC. In 2009, her book ‘Piercing the Heart- Untold Stories of 26/11’ was published. She has written for a number of leading national and international publications. She tweets at @Simransodhi9
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