India’s pragmatic embrace of a duplicitous China
When China’s envoy in New Delhi, Xu Feihong, stood before the Indian media recently and condemned Washington’s new tariff regime on Indian exports, it felt like one of those moments in geopolitics where irony overshadows diplomacy.
A nation that only four years ago engaged in bloody clashes with Indian soldiers in Galwan now claims to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with New Delhi against American “Dadagiri”.
The word itself – half slang, half satire – was deliberately chosen, a jab at Washington’s perceived arrogance in global trade and politics.
Yet, beneath the rhetoric lurks a deeper puzzle: Is Beijing really reaching out to transform an old adversary into a partner, or is this simply another short-term move in the grand chess game of Asia?
For India, a country that still counts its fallen along the Line of Actual Control, the question is not rhetorical. Trust is expensive, and with China, the cost has always been unbearably high.
The choreography of recent weeks gives the impression of a thaw. Wang Yi’s visit to India, followed by speculation over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Beijing for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, has rekindled talk of a possible reset.
Commentators indulge in the fantasy of two Asian giants – home to nearly 2.8 billion people and vast...
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