Pragmatism undergirds New Delhi's China policy

The outcome of two recent meetings, one between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and the other between defence minister Rajnath Singh and Chinese defence minister Dong Jun, indicate that the reset of India-China relations is proceeding apace.

- Manoj Joshi

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is in China today to hold talks with China's foreign minister Wang Yi under the Special Representatives mechanism to address pending border issues.

The problems between the two, aggravated by Chinese actions in eastern Ladakh, had complicated bilateral relations. The Indian response was two-tiered, involving security and economic ties. On the security front, New Delhi took nuanced steps, instead of escalation; it matched the Chinese deployment on its side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and pivoted its military's orientation away from Pakistan to China. It pointedly also enhanced the nature and scale of its engagement with the United States.

On the economic side, India intensified policies to restrict Chinese business activities in India, including investment screening, product bans and tax investigations. Approvals of Chinese proposals became rare in the wake of the Galwan clash and the process intensified in 2023 when border negotiations to roll back the 2020 Chinese actions yielded no results. Chinese motor vehicle companies seeking to invest billions of dollars in India were blocked. India also banned over 350 Chinese mobile apps.

Direct flights to China were halted and tax investigations were mounted against Chinese telecom majors, and they were banned from India's 5G trials. India also blocked all visas for Chinese nationals since 2020, even though this hit projects that needed Chinese advisers and technicians.