NEW DELHI: In the wake of US President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs on Indian goods, New Delhi has moved to rebuild ties with Beijing while continuing its close energy and defense partnership with Russia, moves that experts say carry strategic opportunities.
After a yearslong standoff between India and China over a deadly clash at their disputed border, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in the Indian capital on Monday for a two-day visit and talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar.
Modi hailed the improved relations with Beijing and said after the meeting that the “steady progress” they made was “guided by respect for each other’s interests and sensitivities.”
The two sides also agreed to resume direct flights between China and India to help boost trade and investment, facilitate business and cultural exchanges, and recommence the issuing of journalist and tourist visas.
The thaw in relations comes after Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods, 25 percent of which was a penalty for India buying Russian oil, which Washington said was helping fuel Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The Indian government said the tariffs were “unjustified and unreasonable” and vowed to “take all necessary steps to protect its national interests.”
The progress in India-China relations was followed by Jaishankar’s three-day visit to Moscow, which ended on Thursday and resulted in the two sides agreeing to boost trade ties.
In a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Jaishankar said that relations between the two countries had been “among the steadiest of the major relationships in the world” since World War II.
The sides reaffirmed their ambition to expand two-way trade, including an increase in Indian exports to Russia.
“This requires swiftly addressing non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments,” Jaishankar said.
“Enhancing Indian exports to Russia in sectors like pharmaceuticals, agriculture and textiles will certainly help to correct the current imbalance.”
Harsh V. Pant, vice president at Delhi-based think tank Observer Research Foundation, said that while India’s engagements with Russia and China had started before Trump’s global tariff campaign, it had acted as a catalyst.
“What Trump seems to have done is to create a sentiment against America in India and to accelerate India’s ties with these countries,” he told Arab News.
International affairs expert Mohan Guruswamy said that Delhi’s efforts to strengthen ties with China and Russia would assure “India of its strategic independence.”
“By associating with America, it lost it. And associating with America has proved to be expensive,” he told Arab News.
Bharat Karnad, a political scientist and emeritus professor at the Center for Policy Research in Delhi, said India’s frayed ties with Washington were an opportunity for it “to rethink and repurpose (its) strategy.”
“America has always been an unreliable, untrustworthy partner to all its allies. It’s historically been the case that America helps only when its own interests are served and not when the allies’ interests are at stake,” he told Arab News.
This was an opportunity for Modi’s government to support de-dollarization efforts that had been pursued by the BRICS geopolitical forum, which includes India, Russia and China, he said.
“This is the time, and there are still some indications that we are working toward precisely the kinds of BRICS initiative to de-dollarize trade.
“Rather than become captive of the US or Western or any other … trading system, we should have the independence and the flexibility to switch to serve our national interests.”
