Narendra Modi (L) with Xi Jinping at the SCO summit in Tianjin, on August 31, 2025. (Photo: PMO)
New Delhi: The prime minister, Narendra Modi, held substantive talks with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in Tianjin on Sunday, marking his first visit to China in seven years and signalling a potential strategic realignment between Asia’s two largest economies.
The bilateral meeting, held on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, came just five days after the United States imposed severe 50% tariffs on Indian goods – a move that has altered New Delhi’s basic strategic calculations and accelerated its diplomatic outreach to Beijing.
Moving from Galwan 2020
Modi’s visit represents a dramatic turnaround from the frozen relations that followed the deadly Galwan valley clash in June 2020, when 20 Indian and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers died in the first military casualties along the disputed border in 45 years. (China acknowledged the death of just four of its soldiers, which experts claim as unrealistic, given the circumstances of the savage fist-club-stone clash where no firearms were used.)
The thaw began with a border patrol agreement reached on October 21, 2024, concerning disengagement in the sensitive Depsang plains and Demchok regions. This restored patrolling rights suspended since 2020 and established new mechanisms for maintaining peace along the line of actual control.
“We have made good progress in our discussions with China since our meeting in Kazan,” Modi told Xi, referring to their October 2024 encounter at the BRICS summit in Russia that both leaders described as a “restart” of bilateral ties.
Trump’s tariff gambit backfires
The immediate catalyst for the accelerated diplomatic reset was the Trump administration’s trade assault on India. The 50% tariff – combining an existing 25% rate with an additional 25% “punitive” surcharge – targets India’s procurement of Russian oil, which Washington argues helps finance Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine.
The economic impact is severe. The Global Trade Research Institute estimates Indian exports to the US could plummet from $86.5 billion to around $50 billion by 2026, with textile, gem and jewellery exports facing a catastrophic 70% decline.
According to Jefferies Bank analysis, the tariffs partly reflect Trump’s “personal pique” at being denied a mediating role in India-Pakistan conflicts, highlighting the increasingly personal nature of his diplomatic approach.
Xi’s four-point plan and border peace
In their 40-minute discussion, both leaders stressed the importance of strategic autonomy. Modi emphasized that India-China relations “should not be seen through a third country lens” – a clear reference to US attempts to position India as a bulwark against Chinese influence.
Xi presented a four-point framework for upgrading bilateral relations: strengthening strategic communication and deepening mutual trust; expanding exchanges across multiple domains; achieving mutual benefit in economic partnership; and accommodating each other’s concerns while strengthening multilateral cooperation.
“It is the right choice for both countries to be friends,” Xi said, invoking his favoured metaphor of “the dragon and the elephant dancing together.”
A significant component of the talks focused on border management. Modi described “peace and tranquillity on the border areas” as an “insurance policy” for bilateral relations, expressing satisfaction with the successful disengagement achieved in late 2024.
Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a “fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question” while ensuring border differences would not escalate into broader disputes. Practical outcomes include the resumption of the Kailash Manasarovar pilgrimage for Indian devotees, the restart of direct flights suspended since 2020, and enhanced visa facilitation.
The economic dimension gained particular significance given US trade tensions. China is India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $129 billion in 2024, though India faces a substantial deficit of approximately $99.2 billion.
The Chinese ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, has pledged that Beijing would “steadfastly support India” against US tariffs, and Saturday’s meeting reinforced this solidarity.
Multilateral diplomacy and Putin meeting
Both leaders emphasized cooperation within frameworks like BRICS and SCO. Modi invited Xi to the BRICS summit India will host in 2026, with the Chinese president accepting and pledging support for India’s presidency.
Modi’s address to the SCO plenary outlined India’s approach based on three pillars: Security, Connectivity, and Opportunity. He emphasized that “terrorism, separatism and extremism are big challenges” and called for firm action against cross-border terrorism.
Significantly, this was delivered in the presence of the Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, marking the first time Modi and Sharif shared a platform since tensions escalated following April 2025 Pahalgam terrorist attack.
Modi also highlighted India’s support for connectivity projects like the Chabahar port project while subtly contrasting these with China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by noting that “connectivity that bypasses sovereignty loses trust and meaning.”
Modi’s separate 45-minute meeting with Putin added complexity to the diplomatic dynamics. The discussion covered bilateral cooperation in economic, financial and energy sectors, with both leaders expressing satisfaction with sustained growth.
The trilateral dynamic involving Modi, Xi and Putin represented a powerful symbol of alternative partnership structures challenging Western-dominated global governance – three leaders representing more than 40% of the world’s population coordinating responses to western pressure.
Whether this diplomatic breakthrough can sustain itself amid structural tensions remains uncertain. Historical precedent suggests India-China relations follow cyclical patterns of engagement and withdrawal.
However, both leaders appeared to recognize they were participating in a potentially historic moment. As Xi observed, “as long as both nations remain committed to the overarching principle of being partners, not rivals, China-India relations will flourish.”
Modi’s response – emphasizing cooperation based on “mutual respect, mutual interest, and mutual sensitivity” – suggested both countries have chosen partnership over confrontation at a critical juncture in global politics.
The August 31 meeting in Tianjin may thus be remembered as the moment Asia’s two giants prioritized strategic autonomy over great power dependence, potentially reshaping the broader architecture of international relations in an increasingly multipolar world.
