Positive Momentum

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, held in August-September 2025, has emerged as a turning point for India's foreign policy and its complex relationship with China.

- ANAND KUMAR The writer is Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

At a time of seismic geopolitical shifts, the summit highlighted a reconfiguration of alignments in Asia and beyond. The Modi-Xi Jinping meeting on the sidelines carried significance far beyond protocol, symbolising the possibility of a thaw between two Asian giants that have spent years locked in suspicion, especially after the deadly Galwan clashes of 2020.

This was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first visit to China since Galwan, signalling a deliberate decision by both New Delhi and Beijing to recalibrate ties. Since 2020, the relationship was defined by mistrust, with disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) slow and fraught.

Yet global realities—marked by U.S. unilateralism, economic coercion, and tariff weaponisation under Donald Trump—ironically incentivised India and China to search for common ground. Both suffered from supply chain disruptions and punitive tariffs, prompting even adversaries to reassess their options. Beijing, grappling with trade and technology pressures, eased some of its post-Galwan restrictions, lowering the temperature with India.

Against this backdrop, the SCO Summit provided the right stage. Symbolic gestures like resuming direct flights, reopening the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, and easing visas carried meaning beyond technicalities. They signalled intent to restore normalcy and people-to-people contact, badly eroded in recent years. Modi captured this sentiment when he called peace and tranquility at the border an "insurance policy" for bilateral ties—a reminder that disputes may persist, but stability is indispensable.