Despite rivalry, China-India coexistence is not a pipe dream

The meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek lasted only briefly, but its message was warm and carefully staged. Modi had already said that stable, predictable ties between the world’s two largest nations would matter for a multipolar Asia and a multipolar world.

The bigger moment is expected on September 12 and 13, when Xi is due to visit New Delhi for the first time in seven years. He is expected to lead a delegation of about 400 officials to the Brics summit. The visit comes as Beijing and New Delhi show signs of moving away from the prolonged chill in their relationship.

The thaw cannot be understood without considering Donald Trump. The US president’s 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods last year pushed Delhi and Beijing closer, even after the rates were reduced this year. When China’s envoy offers to stand with India against outside pressure, the strategic calculation is clear.

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stable and predictable ties between the two largest nations on Earth matter for a multipolar Asia and world.

But irritation with Washington may not create a lasting friendship. India has a habit of hedging, and it may eventually move back toward the West once the pressure eases. That possibility is presented not as a reason for pessimism, but as an argument for acting while both sides see an opening.

For much of the past five years, Beijing allowed the freeze along the Line of Actual Control to define relations. China now faces sustained US pressure and an uncertain global economy, giving it reasons not to maintain a second front with a rising neighbour of more than 1.4 billion people. Xi has made the new message explicit: China and India should be partners rather than rivals. In Beijing’s preferred image, the dragon and the elephant should dance together instead of trampling each other.

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partners rather than rivals