According to the Observer, on August 30, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Tianjin on a special plane to attend the SCO summit on the 31st. This time, Modi did not fly directly to China, but went to Japan first. Also facing Trump's tariff stick, unlike Li Jaiming, who visited Japan recently, Modi did not focus on consulting Shigeru Ishiba on his negotiating skills with Trump, but focused on Japan's economic cooperation. Not only that, but in front of Shigeru Ishiba, Modi also stressed that it is crucial to handle relations with China well.
India's view of China as a "geo-challenge" in the eyes of Modi's ability to say this is enough to illustrate the benefits of strengthening cooperation with China, especially in the context of tariffs around Trump.
This time, Modi can stay in Japan for one more day, and just come here early in the morning when the Shanghai Cooperation Summit officially opens on the 31st. But this time he deliberately arrived one night earlier, which is enough to show that he attaches great importance to his visit to China. In fact, before Modi's departure, China and India had already paved the way. The foreign ministers of the two sides completed the exchange of visits, fully communicated on key issues in bilateral relations such as the border situation, and initially reached a consensus. From these arrangements, it can be seen that Modi hopes to take the opportunity of attending the Shanghai Cooperation Summit to have face-to-face communication with the highest level of China.
For us, Modi is a "rare visitor". His last visit to China was seven years ago. Before this visit, the Indian side also showed considerable sincerity. However, it is still worth observing whether the change of India's attitude towards China is a long-term strategic consideration or an expedient measure under Trump's pressure.
During the talks with the Chinese side, Modi re-calibrated his policy towards China. Modi said that China and India are partners rather than opponents. Before this, although the Indian government did not talk about it, it has always regarded China as the main "strategic opponent", which can be seen from India's frequent cooperation with the US "Indo-Pacific Strategy". Now the shift in China's strategic positioning shows that Modi has figured it out and realized that it is in each other's interests for China and India to achieve dragon and elephant dance.
The key factor contributing to India's change in attitude towards China is Trump. It is precisely because he only talks about "American interests" after taking office, and completely ignores the imposition of tariffs on allies, which may lead to the disintegration of the US alliance system. Sullivan can't stand Trump's approach.
According to the Observer Network, former U.S. national security adviser Sullivan recently attended a program, saying that the massive trade offensive launched by Trump is destroying the U.S. efforts for years to pull India against China. In his opinion, this is the job of helping China.
Sullivan's view is actually the mainstream view of the Democratic Party of the United States. In the short term, Trump's substantial tariff increase has indeed allowed some industries to return to the United States and eased the financial pressure on the U.S. government. But compared with these gains, the long-term negative impact is much greater. On the one hand, the credibility of the United States will suffer an irreparable blow. On the other hand, the U.S. alliance system will collapse at an accelerated rate, and its global hegemony will also be impacted.
US-India relations, in fact, is the most typical example. in recent years, the United States has spent a lot of time thinking about India, but the recent US-India relations have rapidly turned straight, which gives the opportunity for China-India relations to improve, equivalent to the diplomatic efforts of the United States in the past.
Of course, for us, if India is only forced to external pressure caused by the deterioration of U.S. and Indian relations, it is far from enough to want to strengthen cooperation with China. cooperation between China and India should be free from the influence of third parties, the core should be mutually beneficial and win-win based on bilateral interests, only in this way can China and Indian relations maintain the long-term momentum of stable and good development.