Modi's Diplomatic Reset With China Reflects India's Realism In A Multipolar World
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's two-day visit to India for a rare meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his top aides has made diplomatic antennae around the world quiver with anticipation. As the world faces 'disorder," the significance of Wang Yi's visit to India is both tactical and symbolic – a calculated reset between the world's second and soon-to-be third-largest economies. India is reopening channels with China where interests overlap, while also taking care to not drop its guard. This is not business as usual. It's flexibility without naivete; engagement, minus illusions.
A Pivotal Visit
Officially announced and meticulously hyped by New Delhi, Wang Yi's visit is unlike the usual protocol for foreign ministers. Not only did Wang hold the 24th round of Special Representatives (SR) talks on the boundary dispute with NSA Ajit Doval and sat for a bilateral with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, but also met Prime Minister Modi himself – a gesture typically reserved for heads of state or government. The message to Donald Trump is clear: Washington's reckless foreign policy will drive friends like India toward America's arch-nemeses.
Multiple threads intertwine here: the resumption of direct flights, possible agreements on border trade, and the long-stalled process of troop disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). High-level meetings have returned to the agenda after years of near freeze since the Galwan Valley clashes. The thaw traces back to Modi's meeting summit with Xi Jinping in Russia last October, leading to a gradual restoration of diplomatic channels complemented by high-level engagements between Indian and Chinese defence and foreign ministers. Yet, tens of thousands of troops still hold forward positions, and trust remains fragile.
Strategic Reality: The Power Play with China
Despite confidence-building gestures, the embedded risks cannot be overstated. India's past experience with the Chinese power has left a lasting caution. Multiple rounds of disengagement have reduced but not eliminated frontline deployments. Each side still keeps approximately 50,000–60,000 troops on alert in eastern Ladakh.
Border management remains fraught. Both countries know that while no one wants a shooting war, neither will yield an inch on sovereignty. Even the economic reset—reopening border trade, restoring direct flights, and easing visa restrictions—comes after half a decade of suspended ties and with the understanding that these are pragmatic, transactional advances, not a full rapprochement.
This realism is underscored by India's 'Neighbourhood First" doctrine and a parallel push to widen strongholds in Africa and the Indian Ocean, effectively countering China's expanding maritime reach.
Wang Yi's Next Stops: Pakistan and Afghanistan—India Stays Wary
Wang Yi's diplomatic itinerary throws another angle into the mix. After India, he's off to trilateral meetings with Pakistan and Afghanistan. In Kabul, Wang will discuss expanding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into Afghanistan, counterterrorism initiatives, and economic connectivity.
China's concurrent outreach to Pakistan's foreign minister and the Taliban signals Beijing's sustained interest in shaping the regional chessboard, keeping India boxed in on multiple fronts. Indian strategists are keenly aware that any reset with China cannot overlook Beijing's entanglements with Islamabad or the Taliban regime.
Countering 'Tariff Terror": India's Diplomatic Chess with the US
The timing of Wang Yi's visit is no coincidence. It comes as the Modi government faces a different kind of pressure from Washington. President Donald Trump's distaste for India's energy ties with Russia has morphed into aggressive tariff warfare. Indian exports to the US now face a base tariff of 25 per cent, rising to a stinging 50 per cent, with an extra penalty specifically for Russian oil deals. This policy not only impacts trade, but is interpreted in New Delhi as an attempt to corner Modi. It is seen as 'tariff terror' at its most raw and personal.
Until last year, India and the US were flying high on security and strategic partnership, much to China's discomfort. Now, the chill in India-US ties has created room—if only narrow and tentative—for China to signal stability, and for New Delhi to hedge its bets pragmatically.
India's Script: Pragmatic Reset, Ample Caution
The Modi government's playbook isn't about a naïve embrace or uncritical engagement. Each step is calibrated: open dialogue on issues of mutual interest—trade, flights, border demarcation—but with ironclad safeguards on sovereignty, defence, and strategic autonomy. India has refused to budge on key economic 'asks" from the US (such as access to agriculture and dairy sectors) and continues to maintain robust military and technological partnerships with Quad countries. The message is as much for Beijing as for Washington: India will not be boxed in by either power.
To the public, India has projected Wang Yi's visit as a breakthrough—a signal for stability, engagement, and positive momentum—but all with eyes wide open. India is also looking to ease China's access to its non-critical sectors, while continuing to shield sectors like defence and telecommunications from Chinese investments.
Why the extra hype? New Delhi's open and official announcement of Wang Yi's visit, coupled with the unprecedented meeting with Prime Minister Modi, is both a gesture and a shield. India wants the world to know that its re-engagement with Beijing is a question of equals. Modi's upcoming trip to China for the SCO summit, bilateral meetings with Xi Jinping, and onward travels to Japan—all form part of a larger tapestry of multipolar engagement, designed to keep India's strategic options open. If a rumoured Modi-Xi-Putin trilateral takes place at the SCO summit, the message to the world would be amply clear.
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India is betting on a reset with China, but on terms that are meticulously scrutinised for risks, vulnerabilities, and future consequences. The boundary talks, the reopening of flights and trade, and the high-profile diplomatic choreography are meant to show the world—especially Washington—that India is nobody's pawn.
The shadow of 'tariff terror" from the US lingers, nudging Delhi closer to engagement with China, even as strategic rivalries persist. In this new chapter, India's approach is clear-eyed realpolitik coupled with calculated flexibility, persistent caution, and unwavering independence.
About the Author
Sanbeer Singh Ranhotra
Sanbeer Singh Ranhotra is a producer and video journalist at Network18. He is enthusiastic about and writes on both national affairs as well as geopolitics.
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First Published:
August 19, 2025, 11:36 IST
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