Their relationship is defined by a bloody border dispute, a vast power imbalance and a fierce contest for influence across Asia. Yet, President Donald Trump’s latest trade war may be achieving the unthinkable: pushing India and China into a wary but tactical embrace.
Trump’s announcement of a new base tariff rate of 25% in India – later set to rise to a staggering 50% as additional punishment for purchasing Russian oil – in some ways mirrors the long pressure campaign he’s waged against China and creates a shared interest between New Delhi and Beijing.
While a thaw in India and China’s fractious relationship was already underway, analysts say Trump’s actions have added to this shift.
New Delhi and Beijing now find themselves navigating a volatile and unpredictable Washington that treats strategic partners and geopolitical rivals with the same transactional disdain, be they in Europe or Asia.
But in chastising India for not having a more open economy and its energy ties to Russia, the Trump administration is punishing the very nation the US has spent years cultivating as a democratic counterweight to China’s power – creating an opening for Beijing.
