Modi’s trip to China marks shift from rivalry to cooperation in the India-China dynamic: Report

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1, his first trip to the country in seven years. According to a Global Times editorial, the visit marks “a shift in China-India relations from a period of diplomatic chill toward a slow but steady cycle of recovery.”

The editorial, shared by Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong, noted that India’s active participation in the SCO Summit underscores its repositioning in the multilateral framework, especially as both countries mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. Recent gestures such as soldiers exchanging sweets along the Himalayan border, resumption of Indian pilgrims’ route to Southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, and discussions on restarting direct flights highlight “growing interaction between the two major countries.”

Driving the cautious thaw, the article argued, are shared strategic needs. Since the Galwan Valley clashes, Beijing and New Delhi have invested significant resources in managing tensions. With global economic recovery still sluggish, the editorial said both sides recognise that “channeling limited resources into growth and reforms, rather than endless disputes, is the rational choice.” In 2024, bilateral trade reached $138.4 billion, a 1.7 percent year-on-year rise. Agreements to resume flights, streamline visas and restart border trade are signs that economic ties may soon return to normalcy.

The editorial also linked the warming of relations to shifting global geopolitics. It pointed out that the US’ increasingly “transactional diplomacy” has strained its ties with India, prompting New Delhi to pursue broader trade diversification. This, it said, aligns with China’s advocacy of strategic autonomy. “Together they constitute the endogenous driving force for the improvement of relations,” the paper wrote.

Western media speculation about an “anti-US alliance” between Beijing and New Delhi, the editorial stressed, misreads the independent foreign policies of both nations. Instead, it described their cooperation as a “natural phenomenon in the process of building a multipolar world” and a legitimate aspiration of emerging powers seeking a stronger voice.

While acknowledging challenges in the relationship, the editorial concluded that Modi’s visit provides “a rare window of opportunity” for the two Asian giants to redefine their ties as partners rather than rivals. “The dragon and the elephant dancing together,” it wrote, “is not only a rational choice but also a shared responsibility for peace, stability and prosperity in the world.”