Resetting ties with Beijing
New Delhi needs to balance its relations with China and the growing partnership with the US so that Indian interests are best served
Foreign secretary Vikram Misri’s visit to Beijing next week is significant for two reasons — it is expected to build on the momentum created by the October 23 understanding between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping to take forward the process of addressing the border issue and overall relations through various mechanisms, and the trip is taking place against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. It is noteworthy that Misri’s visit will come days after the Trump administration signalled its commitment to the Indo-Pacific region by hosting a Quad foreign ministers’ meeting as its first foreign policy engagement.

India has adopted a cautious and nuanced position towards the process of rebuilding ties with China, while Beijing has sought to project a picture of normalcy already being restored, with its persistent calls for the border dispute to be de-hyphenated from other aspects of the relationship. Besides the obvious issue of the next steps for resolving the standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), travel, trade, investment and resumption of people-to-people contacts through the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage are expected to come up when Misri meets Chinese vice foreign minister Sun Weidong in Beijing. These talks will build on recent negotiations between the foreign ministers and special representatives on the border issue.
There has been speculation that Trump’s return in the US may have spurred efforts by India and China to find a way out of the more than four-year-long face-off on the LAC in Ladakh, and the mercurial American leader has declared his intention to weaponise tariffs to further his MAGA project while simultaneously reaching out to Xi. China, which is showing signs of a deepening economic slowdown, is in Trump’s crosshairs. Beijing needs new markets and more business to shield itself from an economic knockout if Washington were to push in that direction. There is a clear attempt on the part of Beijing to regain greater access to the Indian market. The corollary is that India too needs China for low-cost imports and technology, at least until domestic manufacturing, research and development with other partners and the derisking of crucial supply chains are on a sounder footing.
The key issue now is how India can balance relations with China and the growing partnership with the US so that Indian interests are best served. From all indications given by Chinese leaders, Beijing wants to put Galwan and Doklam firmly in the rear-view mirror, separate the border dispute and focus on trade, visas and other exchanges. This is easier said than done, especially given the public sentiment in India because of the prolonged standoff on the LAC and the difficulty that the Indian government will face in selling such an approach to the people.
A reset of India-China ties will need hard work by both sides, including a concerted approach on addressing the border dispute, which continues to have the potential to flare up again. India needs to negotiate hard so that China is impressed about the centrality of peace on the LAC to any furthering of the overall relationship. At the same time, India will need to make it a win-win project without raising hackles in Washington, especially among China hawks such as secretary of state, Marco Rubio. Engagement with mechanisms such as Quad could both reassure India’s western partners and help nudge China towards accommodating Indian concerns about the border and fair trade.
