From reviving direct flights to organising top-level visits, traditional rivals India and China are cautiously improving relations amid uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s stance toward both nations.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit New Delhi next week for talks with India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on their contested Himalayan border, marking their second meeting since the deadly 2020 clash between troops. Later this month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in China during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit — his first trip to the country in seven years.
These developments come after last October’s agreement on joint patrolling along the Himalayan frontier, which helped ease a five-year standoff that had strained trade, investment, and travel.
Analysts say the renewed engagement is also linked to rising India-US tensions, with Trump recently imposing a 50% tariff on Indian exports — one of the steepest for any US strategic partner. In contrast, the US and China extended their tariff truce this week, averting steep duties on each other’s goods.
Beijing and New Delhi have agreed to restore direct flights suspended since 2020 and are considering lowering trade restrictions, including reopening border trade at three Himalayan crossings.
These global developments are the results of Additional Tarrifs on India by US
