A relationship frozen after a deadly clash high in the Himalayas five years ago appears to be thawing under the heat of US President Donald Trump’s economic pressure.
For the first time since 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to China this week to attend a summit hosted by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, a visit that comes as New Delhi remains in a tense standoff with the White House over its threat of 50% tariffs.
In a moment of geopolitical whiplash, the two leaders – whose soldiers fought a brutal hand-to-hand combat with fists, rocks and clubs at their disputed border in 2020 – could now shake hands, prioritizing economic stability over entrenched rivalry.
Alongside Modi, world leaders from Russia, Pakistan, Iran and Central Asia will join Xi this weekend for what Beijing has said will be the largest summit yet of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Moscow and Beijing-founded regional security club aimed at reshaping the global balance of power.
India’s presence at the event is the most telling example yet of the warming ties between the two Asian powers – a budding realignment that threatens to undo years-long US efforts to cultivate New Delhi as a counterweight against a rising and increasingly assertive China.
