India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 2024 BRICS summit marks a notable shift in the balance of global power and further complicates the United States’ struggle to maintain its unipolar dominance.
The long-standing tensions between India and China reached a peak in 2020, when a deadly clash along their disputed border in the Galwan Valley led to the deaths of 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers. Since then, the U.S. has tried to exploit the rivalry between the two largest countries in the world, using India as a strategic counterbalance to China and driving a wedge between China and the Global South.
As the U.S. continues its battle to preserve a U.S.-led unipolar world, which contrasts with the multipolar system favored by China and Russia, India finds itself straddling two worlds. The world’s second-largest nation is poised to decide whether it will support the unipolar world or embrace the evolving multipolarity.
However, India and much of the Global South no longer feel compelled to choose sides between blocs. India’s foreign minister, S. Jaishankar, in his book The India Way, explains that multipolarity allows countries to engage with competing global powers simultaneously, optimizing results for their own self-interest.
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While relations between India and the U.S. have improved in recent years, India’s ties with Russia have also strengthened. India is part of the U.S.-led Quad, a coalition designed to contain China, while simultaneously being a member of the Russia- and China-led BRICS and SCO, which aim to challenge U.S. hegemony. Notably, India has refused to participate in U.S.-led sanctions on Russia, and Russia has become one of India’s largest trade partners and oil suppliers, moving from the 18th-largest to the 4th-largest trading partner.
Despite U.S. efforts to drive a wedge between India and China, Russia has acted as a mediator between the two countries, particularly in the context of the RIC (Russia, India, and China) formation, which was established in 1998. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has highlighted that the role of RIC includes building trust and confidence between India and China.
The diplomatic thawing between India and China took a significant step forward when Modi and Xi met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, their first high-level bilateral meeting in almost five years. The meeting came just days after India and China reached a de-escalation agreement concerning their disputed Himalayan border, resolving issues that had emerged in 2020.
Modi emphasized the importance of the meeting for both nations and the world, stating, “India-China relations are important for the people of our countries, and for regional and global peace and stability. Mutual trust, mutual respect, and mutual sensitivity will guide bilateral relations.”
Xi echoed this sentiment, noting, “China and India are both important members of the Global South, and our meeting serves the fundamental interests of our two countries and peoples. It is also crucial for both sides to shoulder our international responsibility, set an example for strengthening the unity of developing countries, and contribute to promoting multipolarity and democracy in international relations.”
The significance of this meeting extends beyond the improved India-China relationship. By holding their historic talks in Russia, both countries also acknowledged Russia’s role as a mediator in the evolving global order.
The thaw in relations between India and China represents a crucial step in the world’s shift away from U.S. hegemony and toward the emerging multipolar world.