Chinese President Xi Jinping has reached India after 7 years. Apart from the BRICS summit, he will also hold a bilateral meeting with PM Modi. Jinping last visited India in October 2019 for an informal meeting.
.
1. Diplomacy: India-China political tension will reduce due to business compulsion
- In June 2020, there was a bloody clash between Indian and Chinese armies in Galwan Valley. 20 soldiers including Captain Santosh Babu of India were martyred. The situation became so bad that heavy deployment of soldiers and weapons was made at forward posts from both sides.
- After 4 years, in October 2024, there was some softening in the relations between the two countries. Disengagement took place on the border. Modi-Jinping talks took place in Kazan, Russia.
- In August 2025, Modi went to China for the SCO Summit and met Jinping. Recently, both the leaders also had a handshake in Kyrgyzstan. Now Jinping is coming to India and will sit at the negotiating table with Modi. This is the third consecutive year when the two leaders are meeting.
In August 2025, PM Modi and President Jinping had talks in Tianjin, China. Then Jinping had said that we should become partners instead of rivals.
- Dr. Chitij Bajpai, Senior Research Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Program of the British think tank Chatham House, believes that this is not a strategic reset between India and China, but a tactical thaw. That is, although the ice in relations has melted somewhat, but tension remains regarding the border dispute and Pakistan-China relations.
- In diplomacy, tactical thaw means temporary reduction of political and military tension between two rival countries due to economic needs.
2. Optics: Seeing Jinping, Putin and Modi together is a big deal.
- In the last one and a half years, US President Trump’s policy has had a direct impact on India, Russia and China. Trump imposed a total tariff of 50% on India, which was equal to that of countries like Syria and Myanmar. At the same time, up to 145% tariff was imposed on China and many types of economic and military sanctions were imposed on Russia.
- Pictures of PM Modi, Putin and Jinping together went viral during the SCO summit held in Tianjin, China on September 1, 2025. Discussion started all over the world whether India, Russia and China have come to one table.
- His displeasure was also visible with Trump’s social media posts. While sharing the photo of the three leaders on Truth Social, he wrote, ‘It seems that we have lost India and Russia to China. I hope that their partnership is long and prosperous.
- Last month, during the SCO Summit held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, such pictures came again, which were again seen against America and Western countries.
- In such a situation, the coming together of the three leaders again will be very important from the optics point of view. This will send a message to Washington that America is not the only option for India. At the same time, Beijing will also show that even though the Western world tried to isolate it, it is not alone on the global stage, especially on a stage where India and Russia are also present.
President Putin, PM Modi and President Jinping during the BRICS summit being held in Delhi.
3. Messaging: BRICS is not a platform for show, all countries united
- BRICS is no longer a group of just 5 countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Six more countries like Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia have joined it, i.e. a total of 11 powers.
- Half of the world’s population lives in these countries and they have 40% share in global GDP. On the other hand, there is turmoil in the global order. Trump is taking arbitrary decisions. The world is facing the brunt of 25 wars. The global supply chain of essential commodities like oil, gas, grains and raw materials has been affected.
The inaugural meeting of BRICS was held in 2006, which was attended by the leaders of India, China, Russia and Brazil. Later South Africa joined it. Picture- is of the BRICS summit held in India in 2016.
- The importance of BRICS increases when most of the countries of the Global South, comprising more than 100 countries, have expectations from it and believe that BRICS will prove to be a stronger platform than the Western countries.
- However, it is not easy to keep all the 11 member countries of BRICS united with different thinking. Among them is democratic India and also authoritarian China and Russia. Iran’s conflict with UAE and Saudi Arabia continues. Ethiopia and Egypt are also rivals. The biggest condition to keep BRICS united and successful is that India and China avoid open conflict with each other.
- Irishka Pankaj, director of the Indian think tank Organization for Research on China and Asia, believes that this time’s BRICS summit is as important for New Delhi as it is for Beijing. Because next year it is the host of BRICS. If Jinping, the current chair, had not come to India, China’s reputation would have been harmed.
Relations between India and China are taking a turn, but due to two reasons, both the countries cannot come together at the moment. First- trust deficiti.e. lack of trust and second- trade deficiti.e. trade deficit.
First challenge: lack of trust between India and China
- Both the countries have fought a war in 1962. Due to border dispute, there have been clashes between the two armies in Depsang in Ladakh in 2013, Chumar in 2014, Doklam in 2017 and Galwan in eastern Ladakh in 2020. There are still around 50,000 Indian soldiers deployed on LAC. In June 2026, the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh have claimed that the Chinese army is occupying their ancestral land. However India denied this.
- China admitted that it helped Pakistan in the conflict between India and Pakistan in May 2025. China-Pakistan are also continuously expanding their strategic partnership. India’s another neighbor Bangladesh is also joining the Chinese camp.
- Global Affairs expert Dr. Dylan Loh believes that India-China coming to the negotiating table is risk management, not a strategic reset. There is such a deep gap of mistrust between the two due to the border dispute and each other’s foreign policy, which may take a long time to bridge. If their relationship is to improve, they will have to step back on many issues, which is unlikely to happen.
Second challenge: India’s trade loss from China
- There will be a trade of $151 billion between the two countries in 2025-26. Out of this, India bought goods worth $132 billion from China, while sold only $19 billion. That means India suffered a loss of about $112 billion, which is an all-time high.
- India still sells raw materials like iron ore, naphtha and spices to China, while buying high-value products like electronics, machinery, batteries and solar components from it.
- Indian industries like electronics, electric vehicles, solar energy, pharmaceutical, telecom etc. are dependent on Chinese raw materials, machinery and components.
- India-China policy expert Dr. Sriparna Pathak believes that the trade deficit of more than 100 billion dollars with China is a threat to India’s supply chain and industries. Due to this, India becomes limited on strategic fronts. At the same time, China wants to keep the border dispute aside and only increase trade, which India does not want.
Before Jinping’s visit to India, NSA Ajit Doval had gone to China. According to reports, many points were agreed upon between the two countries during that visit. For example, taking forward talks on border dispute, strengthening military hotline, relaxation in visa rules and trade related issues. That means the table is already ready.
According to sources, New Delhi’s top priorities in bilateral talks with Jinping are mutual cooperation, trade, people-to-people exchanges and border disputes. Just before Jinping’s visit, China Southern Airlines has restored flight service on the Guangzhou-Delhi route after 6 years.
According to geostrategy expert Manoj Kewalramani, ‘A framework is expected to be formed in the India-China talks on issues like trade and investment. Visa rules may also be relaxed. But nothing concrete seems to be happening on the border dispute.
———— Read this news also…
Reaches his toilet before Putin: Jinping brings a special car with him; What are the arrangements for security of foreign leaders in BRICS summit?
Leaders of more than 20 countries are gathering in Delhi for the BRICS Summit on 12-13 September. These include big threat leaders like Jinping, Putin, Pazhashkian. Delhi has been fortified for these. Read the full news…
Source link
[ad_3]
