US’ attempt to draw New Delhi to contain China does not align with India’s foreign policy: Chinese editorial

Washington’s attempt to lure New Delhi in order to contain Beijing in the region does not align with India’s independent foreign policy, said a Chinese opinion piece. Also the view that India is inching towards China due to Trump’s tariffs is a one-sided view, it said. There are far many reasons for India and China to cooperate, the editorial added.

The editorial, published in Global Times, stated: “The recent "warming" of China-India ties clearly shows that Washington's attempt to draw New Delhi into its so-called "Indo-Pacific strategy" to contain China does not align with India's independent foreign policy.”

This comes amid reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi might visit China to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, the first visit in seven years. While neither India, nor China has confirmed the visit, speculations are rife about the PM’s visit. 

The Global Times editorial said that the list of areas India and China can cooperate in is long. Both the countries have shared interests in “counterterrorism, trade, and cultural exchange”, it said. A healthy India-China relationship would bring “positive spillover effects to the region and the world”, it added, hoping for a new chapter of "the dragon and the elephant dancing together”.

It acknowledged the frosty ties following the 2020 border clash that “severely impacted political trust”. Despite the differences, there have been signs of warming of bilateral relations, it said, and have upheld the consensus reached by the nations in October 2024 in Kazan. 

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar have visited China since June, it added, and many previously suspended bilateral mechanisms have been resumed. 

The editorial added that despite the warming relations, there are many challenges to be addressed. It said India’s restriction to Chinese investments and visas for technical personnel, long-delayed full resumption of direct flights between the two countries, and other barriers have posed stumbling blocks hindering bilateral exchanges.

“If India can take Modi's visit as an opportunity to promptly adjust its China policy and remove unnecessary barriers, there will be much greater room for the development of China-India relations,” it said. 

PM Modi’s visit to China, which many are seeing as a hedge against Washington, is a “rather one-sided” view. “From the perspective of China, China-India cooperation is not aimed at any third party. As two ancient civilisations with long-standing friendly exchanges, two major emerging economies, and key members of the Global South, both countries are at critical stages of their respective modernization journeys,” it said.