China, India Pledge to Mend Ties Amid US Tariffs; Analysts Cast Doubts on Effects – The Epoch Times

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) and Chinese leader Xi Jinping (R) hold a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin, China, on Aug. 31, 2025. Indian Prime Minister’s Office via AP

Chinese leader Xi Jinping urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enhance cooperation and put aside the decades-long border disputes that soured relations between the two neighbors, during a meeting on Aug. 31.

Analysts interpreted the move as part of Beijing’s strategy to capitalize on New Delhi’s grievances over U.S. tariffs in a bid to forge a united front against the United States, although they expected limited effects.

In a meeting with Modi ahead of a regional summit, Xi told Modi that the two countries must “not let the border issue define the overall China–India relationship,” according to China’s foreign ministry.

If India and China can view each other as “partners” rather than “rivals,” the two countries’ relationship could “flourish and move forward steadily,” Xi was quoted as saying by the ministry.

Modi, on his side, “underlined the importance of peace and tranquility on the border areas for continued development of bilateral relations,” according to India’s readout.

Modi is on his first visit to China since the deadly 2020 border clash in the Galwan region of the Himalayas, which claimed the lives of at least 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers. The deadly incident heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, effectively freezing most areas of bilateral cooperation.

Signs of a thaw in relations began to emerge in October 2024, when the two countries reached a border patrol agreement ahead of a sit-down between Modi and Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia. In July, Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Beijing, while China’s top diplomat Wang Yi recently traveled to New Delhi to meet Modi and senior Indian officials.

Modi’s trip to China came less than a week after the additional 25 percent U.S. tariff on India took effect. The move pushes the U.S. levy on India—the world’s third-largest economy—to 50 percent. The Trump administration said its fresh tariffs were in response to New Delhi’s massive purchase of Russian oil, while Modi’s government called Washington’s action “unjustified” and “unreasonable.”

During the meeting with Xi, Modi said that both India and China pursue “strategic autonomy,” and that the two countries’ relations “should not be seen through a third country lens,” according to the readout released by Modi’s office.

Modi stressed “the need to proceed from a political and strategic direction to expand bilateral trade and investment ties” while addressing India’s trade deficit with China, the Indian premier’s office said.

China surpassed the United States to become India’s largest trading partner in the financial year 2023–2024, which ended in March. But India has become increasingly frustrated over its trade deficit with China, which expanded to $99.2 billion in the last fiscal year, New Delhi’s trade data show.

Modi’s visit indicates that New Delhi remains committed to its longstanding nonalignment diplomatic approach, a strategy that allows it to forge multiple partnerships without fully committing to any single bloc, according to Su Tzu-yun, a senior analyst at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taiwan government-funded think tank.

“India has historically maintained a nonaligned foreign policy, although it moved closer to the United States” in recent years, particularly during the Biden administration, which opened doors to more investment opportunities amid tensions with China over border disputes, Su told The Epoch Times.

After two dozen rounds of border talks with Beijing and facing fresh U.S. tariffs, India appears to have reverted to its traditional diplomatic stance, Su said.

Measured Message From India

Modi is in Tianjin, a port city neighboring Beijing, to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional power bloc that Taiwan-based analysts say is a platform for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to project power in Central Asia.

China established the SCO in 2001 along with Russia and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—all former Soviet republics.

India and Pakistan became the full members of the bloc in 2017, despite their decades-long rivalries. Iran joined the organization in 2023, followed by Belarus, a close ally of the Kremlin, which was admitted in 2024.

Through this year’s SCO summit, China wants to strengthen cooperation with the Global South, bringing these countries into its orbit amid the trade tensions with the United States, according to Shen Ming-Shih, a research fellow at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research.

The Chinese regime hopes to “capitalize” on these countries’ complaints about U.S. tariffs and “rally them into forming an anti-Trump or anti-U.S. bloc,” Shen told The Epoch Times.

“The primary goal is to use economic interests as a pretext to sow divisions between these [Global South] nations and the United States, and then leverage this opportunity to win them over and jointly counter the United States,” Shen said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shake hands during a joint news conference in Tokyo on Aug. 29, 2025. Takashi Aoyama/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

The SCO summit takes place just days before Beijing stages its military parade to mark the end of World War II. The regime is set to showcase its most advanced arms manufactured at home in the parade, while Xi is expected to deliver a speech from the rostrum of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing.

Some SCO guests, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, are expected to attend the Sept. 3 parade. Modi, however, was not among the 26 foreign leaders that China said would attend the event.

“Modi’s message is carefully calibrated—attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit but skipping the CCP’s Sept. 3 ceremony, signalling that principal differences remain between New Delhi and the CCP,” China expert Wang He told The Epoch Times. Therefore, Wang said he expects India to “pursue deeper strategic cooperation with the United States rather than aligning closely with China.”

The bilateral meeting in Tianjin came two days after Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed to bolster cooperation in trade, military, and other areas between the two countries following their meetings in Tokyo.

In a joint statement, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to advance cooperation through the Quad framework, a regional partnership that also includes the United States and Australia, and that aims at countering the CCP’s growing aggressive stance in the Indo-Pacific.