India-China Relations Shift Towards 'Managed Rivalry' as Xi Jinping Visits New Delhi
Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to New Delhi for the BRICS summit on September 12 and 13 marks his first visit to India since 2019. This comes against the backdrop of a fundamentally altered relationship between India and China, following the 2020 Galwan clash that left twenty Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops dead.
The clash severely damaged trust between the two countries, leading to India tightening scrutiny on Chinese investment, banning Chinese apps, and suspending direct passenger flights. However, instead of allowing the conflict to define their relationship, India has chosen to maintain engagement while protecting its strategic and economic interests.
India's approach can be summarized as 'talk to China, trade with China, but scrutinize China.' This is evident in the stalled linkage between UPI and Alipay+ due to security concerns. The objective of India-China relations has shifted from pursuing friendship at any cost to a more pragmatic framework: keeping the border stable, protecting national interests, trading where it makes sense, competing where necessary, and maintaining dialogue.
The BRICS grouping is significant in this context, as it provides a platform for countries with profound differences to engage and collaborate. With India chairing the grouping this year, New Delhi has pushed towards practical cooperation in areas such as small-business finance, technology, resilient supply chains, and start-ups.