China's economic struggles prompt rapprochement with India

The long-lasting impact of the recent normalization of the four-year-old border dispute between India and China, announced earlier last week at Kazan in Russia, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, will largely depend on how concessionary New Delhi is willing to be regarding Chinese investments and products entering India.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

Officials believe that Beijing expects a swift and comprehensive welcome for its investments, which the Indian government has restricted since the Galwan crisis of June 2020.

It is pertinent to mention that initial steps toward restricting Chinese investments were being taken much before Galwan because of security concerns about allowing Chinese investments in critical and strategic sectors like communication and audio-video components.

Notably, from April 2023 to February 2024, the total value of imports from China reached $117.68 billion, constituting the largest share 15.16%-of India's total imports. This figure was achieved despite India's increased efforts to correct the trade imbalance following the Galwan incident. In the fiscal year 2023-2024, India's exports to China were approximately $16.67 billion.

For the last one and a half decades, China has been India's largest source of imports.