Cautious Reset

Donald Trump’s tariffs have jolted India into searching for strategic alternatives. Of these, Narendra Modi’s meeting with Xi Jinping in his first visit to China in seven years was the most eagerly anticipated balancing act. The meeting saw warm words spoken between the two world leaders in Beijing against a chill wind from Washington.

Both leaders spoke of being development partners and not rivals in a strikingly novel framing for two countries whose troops had only recently disengaged from a bitter Himalayan stand-off.

Modi’s insistence that the two countries be seen as partners was echoed in the Chinese statement almost word for word. Beijing, bruised by tensions with America, sees value in easing frictions with Delhi while India, wary of overdependence on the West, sees value in a less hostile China.

A major theme coursing through the meeting was that of strategic autonomy. India underlined that its ties with China should not be viewed through a “third country lens.” This was a pointed rebuke to Washington’s habit of casting Delhi as a counterweight to Beijing. The Chinese, in turn, credited Modi with affirming that bilateral ties would not be be influenced by third parties. In the shadow of Trump’s punitive tariffs, the clear subtext was that India has no wish to be anyone’s pawn.

Both Modi and Xi deemed it necessary to expand common ground on global challenges, from terrorism to fair trade. That formulation allowed Delhi to yoke together its complaints about Pakistan’s cross-border militancy with its grievances about American trade barriers. Beijing, eager to appear supportive, had already said it would back India against Washington’s tariffs. Each side, then, was signalling room for tactical alignment.

The smiles and symbolism were deliberate. Yet beneath them, mistrust lingers, and the task of translating rhetoric into reality remains daunting.

Foremost among them is the border. India stressed that peace and tranquillity there are the “insurance policy” for bilateral ties. It highlighted disengagement and reiterated the need for a fair and mutually acceptable resolution. China’s statement, by contrast, urged that the boundary not define the relationship, invoking Jawaharlal Nehru’s Panchsheel principles. The economic agenda was less contentious. India floated concrete steps in form of direct flights, greater trade and investment to narrow its yawning deficit. China emphasised win-win results and the stabilising role of both economies for world trade. If these pledges take shape, they could lend ballast to a relationship otherwise prone to turbulence.

The thaw is real but fragile. Talks of partnership, after all, cannot erase decades of mistrust or border clashes. For Modi, the broader point was global. A stable Sino-Indian relationship, he said, was essential not only for their 2.8 billion people but also for the emergence of a multipolar Asia and multipolar world. While New Delhi has long argued for such pluralism, Beijing has been reluctant to concede India equal billing. The fact that both invoked partnership at all, however, suggests some movement.