'Stop boasting, learn from China's quiet rise': Sushant Sareen calls G2 a wake-up call for India

After US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Busan, security analyst Sushant Sareen suggested that this US–China "G2" moment could be a wake-up call for India.

"G2 is a lesson for India. Here is China which has quietly built its strength and is now taking on the US. But the Chinese still say they are a developing country; and here are we who are at best a middle power pretending to be a super-power without the necessary wherewithal or the economic and military heft to be a great power, forget being a super power," Sareen wrote on X.

Sareen, a Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), questioned India's grand strategy and priorities, arguing that the country must first fix its fundamentals before aspiring to global dominance. "By the way, why do we want to become a super-power? What is our grand strategy if we were to become a super-power? What do we propose to do with it? We can't exercise the power we have and we pretend to being a superpower? Get real. Keep quiet. Stop boasting. Build the economy and military strength," he said.

He was particularly critical of India's dependence on foreign technology and its slow pace of reform. "Stop asking for technology - no one will give it to you. You can either buy outdated tech, or build your own tech or steal it. It won't come on a platter which our babus and netas hanker and negotiate for. Reform the economy. Reform governance. Demolish the bureaucratic stranglehold. Or get left behind," Sareen wrote in his post.

Trump met with Xi in Busan on Thursday, which Trump described as "an amazing meeting" marking "a fantastic new beginning" in U.S.–China relations. The two leaders announced a series of economic and trade understandings, including a 10% reduction in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, a resumption of soybean purchases, and a breakthrough on rare earth exports - critical minerals vital for electric vehicles, high-tech manufacturing, and defence equipment.

"All the rare earth issue has been settled," Trump said, confirming that Beijing had agreed to maintain exports under a one-year arrangement expected to be extended. A U.S. official travelling with Trump said the deal would ease supply chain fears that had unsettled American tech and defence industries.

Trump also confirmed the rollback of tariffs "as a gesture of good faith," adding, "China will immediately start buying soybeans again. That's a big win for our farmers. The trade relationship is going to look very different now."

Trump said he would visit China in April, with Xi expected to visit the United States later in the year. Notably, "Taiwan "never came up" in the discussions, Trump told reporters - a rare omission in the context of U.S.–China tensions.

Ahead of their meeting, Trump wrote on Truth Social: "THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!"