Trump is pushing India back towards China

It may be another case of the adage: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

- David Pierson and Alex Travelli

BEIJING - It may be another case of the adage: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Either way, it has come as a welcome surprise for China to see its top global rival, the United States, pick a fight with Beijing's biggest Asian competitor, India.

Relations between Washington and New Delhi are on the fritz after the Trump administration threatened in August to double tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, citing India's imports of Russian oil.

The sudden rift threatens to undermine years of growing cooperation between the US and India in areas like security and technology that had been fuelled in large part by a shared desire to keep China's global ambitions in check.

It has also injected new momentum into an easing of tensions between China and India, which had ramped up in recent years.

The thaw started in earnest in October 2024 when Chinese President Xi Jinping met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a summit of emerging economies in Kazan, Russia.

Since then, the two countries have increased official visits and discussed easing trade barriers and the movement of people.

"I assume that there is a certain amount of schadenfreude among some folks in Beijing when they look at the trade issues between India and the United States," said Mr Manoj Kewalramani, head of Indo-Pacific studies at the Takshashila Institution in Bengaluru, India.

"A breakdown of political trust between New Delhi and Washington works in Beijing's favour."

To be sure, there is still much that divides the two Asian giants.

That includes control of a 3,379km shared border, China's cosiness with India's adversary, Pakistan, as well as India's aim to attract the multinational manufacturers that have been trying to reduce their dependence on China.