India is modestly improving economic ties with China — even as New Delhi moves to counter Beijing in other arenas.
India’s prime minister will visit China this month for the first time since 2018, to attend a multilateral summit. New Delhi also signaled it could ease investment restrictions on Chinese firms. US President Donald Trump’s recent economic onslaught against India — once seen as Washington’s strategic bulwark against China — has likely accelerated these geopolitical shifts, analysts said.
But New Delhi’s outreach to Beijing is not driven by “strategic frailty,” Foreign Policy wrote: This week, India held its first joint naval exercises with the Philippines in the South China Sea in a clear challenge to Beijing’s maritime claims.