Editorial: Easing Sino-US tensions

India must pay attention to the changing dynamics of trade and business relations between the US and China

The ice-breaking meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in San Francisco on the margins of the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit could provide new opportunities for India, given its growing influence in international geopolitics. The first in-person between the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations has resulted in a significant thaw in the bilateral relations that had nosedived in the recent past, particularly on trade-related matters. On its part, New Delhi must keep a close watch on the changes in the global power equations, especially among the US, China and Russia, and take advantage of the new possibilities that could emerge as a result of the easing of tensions in the Sino-US relations. It is in the larger interests of India to strengthen its strategic ties with the US while maintaining its long-standing traditional relations with Russia, and manage the difficult equation with China in view of the festering border dispute. Given its growing standing in global geopolitics, India has the diplomatic wherewithal to handle any sudden shifts in great power relations. For the present, one should not expect any dramatic change in US-China relations. The San Francisco summit was about organising a truce in a conflictual relationship rather than restoring the kind of strategic partnership that seemed possible at the turn of the century. The Xi-Biden meeting indicates that their countries are keen on adopting a pragmatic approach to ease bilateral tensions, though Biden has stirred an avoidable controversy by publicly referring to Xi as a dictator.

However, both are trying to prioritise their interests and find a common ground while acknowledging their differences. The Chinese leader insisted that the two countries cannot afford to turn their backs on each other. He also declared in San Francisco that the world is “big enough for both China and the US”. India certainly needs to pay attention to the changing dynamics of trade and business relations between the US and China, particularly in emerging areas like regulating artificial intelligence (AI) — a subject that came up during the Xi-Biden meeting. A possible agreement between the two countries on this is bound to have a global impact. It is evident that China is keen to woo back American business leaders, who in the past were the biggest champions of China in Washington. In this context, India cannot remain complacent about its attractiveness to Western businesses. India will also need to monitor the follow-up from the conversation between Xi and Biden on regional security issues in the Indo-Pacific, the current crisis in the Middle East and the Ukraine war. At present, there is no sign of any major breakthrough in this regional security dialogue, especially on Taiwan that China sees as the most sensitive issue in bilateral relations.

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