With China and Japan, Modi Counts on Asian Solidarity Amid Trump's Tariffs

New Delhi Looking to Diversify Export Markets in the Face of Punitive US Tariffs

- Nirmala Ganapathy

NEW DELHI/BEIJING/TOKYO Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to Japan and China is significant not just for a consolidation of ties with the other major Asian economies, but also for the shifts in New Delhi's strategic messaging in response to festering strains with the United States.

While Mr Modi's visit to Tokyo was about deepening a longstanding partnership, his first visit to China in seven years for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders' meeting in the eastern Chinese port city of Tianjin effectively drew a line under a tumultuous period between the two neighbours.

The Modi-Xi bilateral meeting may have been the culmination of a months-long detente, but it is also occurring just days after 50 per cent tariffs on Indian exports to the US came into effect—offering a pointed contrast to the souring of India's ties with the Americans, who had cultivated New Delhi as a counter to Chinese influence for decades.

"China and India are two ancient civilizations of the East, the world's most populous nations, and important members of the Global South," Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a readout after their meeting on Aug 31 that stretched more than an hour.

"As long as we grasp the fundamental direction that we are partners rather than rivals, and opportunities for each other's development rather than threats, China-India relations will be able to proceed steadily and far," he added.

LINGERING ISSUES WITH CHINA Bilateral tensions eased after Beijing and New Delhi agreed on a border patrolling agreement in October 2024.

Ties between the two neighbours stalled after a violent clash in Galwan in the Ladakh region, sparking confrontations along several sections of the disputed border. The two sides have gradually disengaged over the past four years, but thousands of troops remain stationed near the border.